Heaven and Hell
by Xyex
Summary: AH Saga 6. An evil sealed away 2,000 years ago by the Supreme Kais, at the cost of one of their own, is about to gain his freedom. And when he does, he plans to resume his the conquest of both realms and all planes of existence!
1. Family Ties

A/N: Wow, this monster of a series is starting to wind down now. Only two more Sagas to go and, by all accounts with what I've got planned (or in some cases, partly planned XD) both of these look like they'll be doozies. We all know how good I am at actually determining the length of a fic before I really get started on it (I thought Saga 5 would be at least 10 chapters longer than it was) but I can see this fic reaching 80 chapters without any trouble, and, most likely, going well beyond that. Anyway, let's see if it actually gets there, eh?

As a side note, my beta reader is way behind. So I've decided to post these without her proofreading and corrections. Expect lots of errors cause I tend to have trouble finidng them.

Welcome to Altered History, Saga 6, Heaven and Hell.

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Chapter One - Family Ties

May 2nd

Nearly seven years have passed since Cell's defeat...

The sky overhead was blocked out by thick black clouds. Low rumbles of thunder could be heard rolling over the lands in the distance. Between their deep growls the only other sound was the rain as it fell upon the leaves of the trees and the grass covered ground. It was coming down in buckets and soaking through the clothes of the two figures that stood upon the small hill, though neither really cared.

Both wore the same thing, a simple white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. Nothing more. They'd been standing there in the rain for almost ten minutes now, one several feet further up the hill than the other. When they'd first arrived the woman had been carrying a bouquet of flowers. Flowers of blue, red, pink, white, and yellow. Now that bouquet lay down upon the ground in front of a small white stone.

The stone was unimpressive in and of itself, the formal burial site was where the impressive and extravagant marker was. Even if there was no body at that location. She had been buried here, on her favorite hill where the flowers always grew in the spring and summer and only a few yards beyond the palace. It had been a request in the last few hours of her life that she be laid to rest here.

It had been... such a shock. So sudden and unexpected, like all the deaths that had come in the two months before and the three months after it. A terrible illness unlike anything they'd ever experienced had befallen them. The entire planet had suffered its effects, a world wide epidemic. Their already small population had taken a devastating blow.

It seemed that no one on the planet was immune to the disease. In the five months that it ran its course through the planet's population each and every one of them had gotten sick. Those who were lucky enough to survive developed a powerful resistance and immunity to it, there would be no threat of it returning to harm them. But most weren't that lucky and they died... within twenty-four hours of showing symptoms of the disease.

A population of just over four hundred thousand had been reduced, in just five months, to less than one hundred thousand. That had been over two years ago now and the population had begun to restore itself. In those two years they'd managed to climb back up over one hundred thousand again. That mile stone had just been reached just that morning. Though neither figure on the hill knew it there were currently one hundred thousand of them, exactly.

A hand rested lightly on her shoulder but she didn't notice it right away, too lost in her thoughts and memories. Then she heard a voice saying her name, though it sounded distant and foggy. A moment later it came again. "Hotaru?" Finally she turned her head over her shoulder so that her eyes met those of the man with her. "We should head back to the palace." he said. "I don't want you getting sick on me. Besides, our ship leaves soon."

She nodded. "Ok." she said, turning around completely. It had been two years but she still came to the grave once a week to offer a prayer or to just talk, let her mother know how things were going. She moved beside Yamcha, wraped her arm around his, clasped his hand in hers, and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked. 

Despite having lost her mother to the powerful illness that had swept the planet she still considered herself lucky. There were... entire families that had been destroyed and people who had lost everyone. Thankfully Sango had been off-world, as she often had been over the years, handling offical business, when the disease had struck. She'd shown no symptoms and had remained off-world and out of physical contact with anyone from Tanaria until a vaccine had been developed.

Yamcha had, much like Kavar, experienced a far less severe infection. For the Human it had merely caused a high fever, sore throat, and an inability to keep any food down for a few days. A simple IV had remedied his eating troubles and some basic medication had dulled the pain of his throat and reduced his fever.

Kavar had suffered from similar issues. However, while he'd not had any problems keeping his food down he had lost all of his hair for a couple of weeks and, out of everyone on the planet, been sick the longest. He'd also revealed the source of the illness. Taraganin histories spoke of it coinciding with the planet's steam venting. A natural process where thousands of fissures and openings across the entire planet would vent steam at random intervals for random peroids over several days as the planet released built up internal pressure.

Apparently the bacteria lay deep inside the crust where it had gone completely unnoticed by the Tanarians after their arrival. The steam venting had begun about two days before the first case of infection. And so the bacteria had been forced to the surface and had found a planet full of new creatures to make its host, to far more devastating effect than the natives.

Another thing Hotaru had to be happy about was that neither of her daughters had contracted the illness to the same degree as the Tanarian population. They'd both suffered the same symptoms as Yamcha as well as the body aches and temporary loss of vision that all the Tanarians had experienced. But their hybrid immune system had been strong enough to stave off the worst of it and both had survived.

She herself had come out pretty well, considering. She'd been hit by the illness hard, almost as hard as her mother. There had been a few times during the twenty-four hours that she'd been sick that the doctors thought they were going to lose her. She was extremely thankful for the Regen Tanks that King Vegeta had sent the year before. Without them... it was possible no one would have survived. The Tomyu Flower Extract that they used to heal injuries just wasn't effective on sicknesses.

At last the two reached the doors into the palace and made their way through the halls to the ship bay. "It'll be nice to see everyone again." Hotaru said after a moment, smiling. Sure, she'd seen everyone several times over the years but never everyone at once like this.

Yamcha nodded. "Sure will be. And I'm looking forward to the tournament. I can't wait to see how far along Krillin and Tien have come. Not to mention Gohan!"

Hotaru nodded. "And I want to see how much Vadora's improved... Hard to believe she was stronger than me at one time."

Yamcha laughed. "Yeah, well, that happens when you're, what, the second strongest person in the galaxy? I mean, at this point, the only one who could beat you would be Gohan."

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Earth:

"Oh, come on Gohan, hurry up!" Goten cried dancing back and forth on his legs. "I don't want miss the ship!"

"Relax squirt, we'll get there in plenty of time." Gohan said laughing. "I still don't know why you didn't just stay on Planet Vegeta in the first place..."

"Cause I wanted to fly back out with you guys!" he said. "Now come on, let's go!" And with that he blasted off in a streak of blue.

"Well, he sure is excited." Videl said laughing as she emerged from the Son home with a large suitcase, having offered to carry Chi-Chi's things. She'd recently cut her hair short again, in perperation for the tournament, and the breeze caught the wild tufts that jutted out here and there and blew them about.

Gohan nodded. "I think the idea of the tournament's got him really worked up. He's heard all the stories about dad entering the Budokais here so now he wants to compete too." He looked over the stuff they had out to carry. A suitcase for all of his things, one for Goten's, and one for Videl's, and one for Chi-Chi's. "Looks like everything..." he said.

"Your mom's going to meet us at the Embassy, right?" Videl asked, picking up her own suticase and lifting up off the ground.

Gohan nodded. "She went over to Capsule Corp yesterday to help Krillin and Mijima settle up things there. She's going to head to the Embassy with them. Your father should be there by now too."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get going." she said flying off. Gohan grabbed his and Goten's things and took off after her. The trip was made in peaceful silence... at first. They'd been flying about twenty minutes, having covered a good distance, when a blue light appeared in the distance zooming toward them. Goten was moving at full speed and reached them a moment later.

"Big brother!" he cried, pulling to a stop. "Trouble down in East Laketown!"

"What is it?" he asked, pulling to a stop and reaching out his senses.

"I dunno, I heard explosions so I got closer to look and there were a lot of energy blasts zipping around down there!"

"Here, take the suitcases." Gohan said handing the two he had over. Goten tucked one under his arm and grabbed the handle of the other, then did the same with the ones Videl had. The teen then looked over to Videl. "Ready?" she nodded and both moved off toward East Laketown. They could feel a lot of powers of varying levels coming from the city. Nothing on their scale though.

The two landed a moment later on a rooftop a few blocks from the ongoing fighting. The area around them was pretty badly damaged with craters of various sizes in the street and sidewalk and a couple buildings completely destroyed. Feeling a faint power in the alley beside them Videl moved over and looked down. "Oh no... Gohan, over here!" she called over her shoulder as she jumped down.

He joined her a second later and saw what she'd found. A man in the Earth Defense Force's green and blue battle armor with a large section blasted off and rather serious injuries as well as a broken leg. "Who...?" he said weakly, looking up.

"It's ok." Videl said kneeling down beside the guy. "Can you tell us what's going on?"

"Gang of thieves..." he said slowly. "Tried to raid... the town. We were just flying by... and came to help the locals..."

Videl nodded and stood up. "Must be some pretty impressive thieves to be able to do this to someone in the EDF." she said, crossing her arms.

"Well, impressive or not, they're no match for us. Come on, let's give these guys a hand." Gohan said walking down the street. "Then we can send help for this guy." Videl followed after him and a moment later they'd reached the battlefield. The EDF had taken cover behind one of their reinforced vans, which had taken a serious beating. Meanwhile the thieves appeared to be hiding out in a bank across the street.

"Who's in charge here?" Videl asked, walking over to the EDF soldiers.

A short guy, no more than three foot tall, with orange skin, blue hair, and a short and fat little blue spike atop his head turned to look. "I... I am now." he said, a bit nervous. The two teens glanced at each other recognizing the insignia on his armor marked him as only a level four. Team leaders were always level three or higher which meant...

"Where's your original leader?" Gohan asked. The short man jerked his head toward the street and Gohan looked. There was a lone EDF solider laying dead in a pool of blood in the street. "Damn." Turning his attenion back to the others he nodded. "Alright, we'll handle this from here, just relax."

The little orange man started to say something but was cut off by a really deep voice from behind. "Gohan!? Ha, it is you!" Glancing back Gohan saw what could best be described as an eight foot tall bowl of blue-berry Jell-O in white and orange battle armor.

"Dubibub." Gohan said with a nod. He knew the alien fairly well having encountered him several dozen times at the training center. "What are you doing out here, you're not with the EDF."

"Was passing by..." he started as he tapped his scouter. "Heard the distress call from the EDF forces. Mind if I take a shot at these guys before you? I could use the exercise."

"Just be careful."

"No problem!" he cried walking out into the street.

Meanwhile Videl leaned over a little. "Um, Gohan... is it just me or... are there no Kis coming from in there?"

Gohan frowned a little and then focused, reaching his mind into the building. Videl was right, he found, there wasn't a single energy inside the bank. He was about to suggest that the thieves had escaped when Dubibub's surrender speech was cut off by a blast of golden energy. The alien deflected it away easily enough and then repeated his order to surrender.

"Ha! Not on your life!" came a voice from inside and then four odd looking... things... walked into view. They were obviously robotic with upside down cone shaped bodies and four spider like legs that ended in multiple toe like prongs. Atop the cones were black glass domes, probably where the sensors and such were stored. In the middle of the body, between the dome and the legs, they each had a pair of arms, the hands of which were now split open revealing energy guns.

The four machines began firing together, their energy blasts charging toward their target with perfect accuracy. But the alien deflected each shot with ease. "Nice toys but they wont work on me!" he said as the last energy blast was deflected away.

"Then allow me!" came the voice once more. A blast of red energy surged out and slammed into Dubibub square in his chest. His armor shattered and he was thrust back into the armored vehicle and knocked out. "Now, unless you want to be next, get lost!"

Gohan walked out into the street with Videl at his side. Both stopped directly in front of the bank in the middle of the road. "I suggest..." Videl began. "That you give up. You won't like the alternative."

The reply came in the form of another blast of energy but she deflected it with ease. And then twin flashes of gold exploded from the teens and bathed the streets. The bright light cutting into the darkness of the bank and revealing the man inside. He was a large man in jeans and a red tank-top. His face was hidden from view by a metal helmet made to look like a skull. However, the most distinguishing feature was the sleek metal right arm he bore.

"What-the-hell?" Videl said, blinking.

"Brats!" the man growled. "It's always a pair of brats!" With that he charged toward them, his metal arm cocking back for a punch. With a cry he swung his fist toward Videl's face but she caught the arm with little effort. But then, to their shock, the man laughed. Suddenly a cry of pain sounded from Videl and she dropped to one knee. Gohan turned and looked and saw her golden aura flowing into the metal arm of the man.

With a cry he thrust his arm out and landed a punch to the large man's helmeted head. The metal helmet cracked but held as he was knocked down the street. The metal arm reached out and he rebounded off of it and onto his feet once more. "Crap, shouldn't have held back that much." Gohan muttered. "You okay Videl?"

She nodded as she stood. "Damn, that felt..." she said shaking her arm. "He took a small chunk of my energy."

"Who are you!?" Gohan called.

"I... am the great Autoro!" he called, charging in toward them again.

/Autoro? Where do I know.../ Gohan thought. /Ugh, no way, could he be!?/ "Autoro!?" he cried, as the thought hit him. "Mijima and Gainin's father!?" 


	2. Reunion on Planet Vegeta

Chapter Two - Reunion on Planet Vegeta

The man's charge came to a sudden halt as he pulled to a stop. "How do you know that!?" he demanded.

"So, you are their father..." Videl said in disbelief.

"Answer me!" Autoro yelled.

"They told us." replied Gohan, crossing his arms. "Or rather, Mijima did, seven years ago." He was about to say more when he felt another power graze his senses and looked up to see Piccolo floating down to join them.

"Felt your powers shoot up, thought I'd see what was up since I was in the area." he said landing. "What's going on?"

"Apparently Mijima's father's kept up his old tricks, and he's gotten some upgrades." Videl informed the Namek.

Piccolo snorted. "So he's the cause of this then? Well, no time for pleasantries." He thrust an arm forward and a gust of wind surged, blasting Autoro five blocks down the road where then he was met with a green fist to the back of his head that knocked him out. As the two teens powered down, Piccolo picked the unconscious man up and carried him back over to the EDF van.

"You know, we could have handled that." Videl said smirking.

Piccolo grinned but said nothing as the three of them left Autoro in the care of the EDF and lifted into the air rejoining Goten. "I wonder where he got that arm from." Gohan said thoughtfully. "I've been seeing cybernetics cropping up like that here and there."

Piccolo nodded. "Not just here on Earth, either. Apparently someone's opened up a galaxy wide black-market on cybernetic enhancements. It's not that big of a concern, though. Likely just a fad inspired by Gero." He turned his gaze toward Gohan. "I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've improved over the last seven years Gohan."

"I want to know how much Videl's improved." Gohan said, looking back at her. "She's refused to train with me for the last year now and hasn't shown me her full power in just as long. Ever since the tournament was announced."

Videl chuckled. "A girl has to have some secrets, you know. I just hope you've taken your training seriously Gohan, I'd like a challenge at the tournament."

"Gohan will win for sure!" Goten said happily. "He's the best! But Trunks and I aren't going to lose easily either!"

"Hey Piccolo, any idea on how strong Vegeta's gotten?" Gohan asked. "I've not even seen him since he took the title of King two years ago."

The Namek shook his head. "I've not seen him fight or train in any of my trips to Planet Vegeta. I don't know how strong he is. But Bulma's told me he trains any chance he gets, which hasn't been nearly as often as he'd like. With the Sai-jin Empire's dissolution and the formation of the Sennari he's had his hands full the last 2 years."

"How is that coming along, anyway?" Videl asked. "Last I heard there were still some disputes over leadership?"

"The Sai-jins are being typically Sai-jin." Piccolo grunted. "Most of them don't want to follow anyone other than a Sai-jin. And there are a few dozen worlds that don't like the idea of Sai-jin rule. But Vegeta and his father both want as many worlds in the Sennari as they can get. A single, solid, galaxy wide government.

"His father was right, the galaxy is far too large a place for a single, simple, Empire to rule over. It's why the Cold Family divided it up between them. And leaving control in the hands of a single race would mean dissention in the government and allow favoritism of the laws and regulations toward that race.

"Right now they're trying to negotiate out a deal for elections. Though, there's debating over that too. The Sai-jins and a number of other races think that the elections should be limited to royal blood, that only those of royalty on their worlds should be given the chance to head the Sennari. Of course, worlds where there isn't true royal blood, like here on Earth, are against that because it removes them from leadership possibilities."

The Namek sighed. "I still don't know how I let Bulma talk me into helping them with this nonsense. We spent six hours in conference last week and didn't make any progress at all. Still, once the Sennari is up and running, things should be a lot smoother in the galaxy. It's just getting there that's going to take some time."

By now they'd reached the Embassy and made their descent landing just outside the loading bays. Chi-Chi, Hercule, Roshi, Krillin, and Mijima were already there waiting for them. "Hey guys." Gohan said waving as his feet touched the ground. "Sorry we're late, we had a little... delay along the way." He figured it'd be best to inform Mijima about Autoro later, after they'd gotten back from planet Vegeta. "So, decided if you're entering yet Krillin?"

"He's entering." Mijima said with a smirk. 

Krillin slumped his shoulders a little and sighed. "I don't know how much good it'll do. Not with all the Sai-jins that are going to be there. Not to mention Piccolo and Hotaru, and Tien's going to be entering too!" He groaned and looked up at the sky next. "And Mijima said she's gong to enter too... there's no way I'm going to win."

"You never know, you could get lucky." Videl said laughing. "Really, how far anyone makes it is going to depend on luck to start. You could get lucky and make it all the way to the finals."

"Yeah, I suppose." Krillin said, running a hand through his thick black hair as they all turned and entered the building. "But then I'd have to fight against Gohan..."

"You know, Gohan might not make it to the finals." Videl said, glancing back at him and smirking.

"Like that would happen." Krillin said, not noticing her look.

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Otherworld - Grand Kai's Planet

Goku ducked under the leg that had been aimed for his head, swerved around behind his father, and lashed out with a kick of his own. His attack missed as well as Bardock vanished only to reappear above him and throwing a hard punch down toward his son's head. This missed too as Goku now vanished and reappeared beside him, his leg shooting out and connecting with Bardock's raised forearm with a loud crack.

The two Sai-jins were, as they often were, in the midst of a light spar. Well, light by their standards. Their powers had climbed rapidly and considerably since their arrival seven years ago and there were now only two others on the planet who they couldn't beat without at least using the Kaio Ken. Those were the powerful Human warrior Olibu and the amazing Pikkon. Though, when transformed, not even the great Grand Kai was their equal.

The two broke apart and dropped down landing a few dozen feet apart. Neither was breathing heavy, neither was showing signs of any real exertion from their work out, and both were grinning. Appla had to admit, they'd kept things lighter than usual. They'd not even powered up the Kaio ken, simply stuck to basics. But then, that's what they'd said they wanted to work on today. Both felt that they were slipping with their basics, their style and technique. This was a chance to sharpen their form more than their power.

"Hey, Goku, Bardock!" King Kai yelled as he walked toward the two warriors. "Have you guys heard yet?"

Goku blinked and relaxed his stance a bit, Bardock doing the same. "What is it King Kai? Is something up?"

"Remember you saying you were curious how Gohan and the others were progressing back in the Mortal Plane?" the short Kai asked to which the Sai-jin nodded. "Well, it seems we'll be finding out shortly. They're holding a big tournament for the entire North Galaxy to celebrate the passed seven years of peace and the formation of the Sennari."

"Senairy?" Goku asked blinking. 

King Kai hung his head as Bardock smacked his forehead. "Sennari. Remember? The new ruling body for the galaxy?" his father said.

"Oh, yeah, that!" Goku cried grinning. "I remember now! So, wait, they're having a tournament?"

King Kai nodded. "Yep! And, apparently, everyone is going to be competing. It's going to be huge! I figured we may as well enjoy the show here so I talked to the Grand Kai about setting up a way for everyone to watch."

The four heard chuckling from behind the blue Kai and looked to find the Grand Kai walking toward them. "I decided on something even better than that. I think it's high time we have our own tournament again here. So not only are we going to watch the mortal tournament but once it ends we're going to have our own. See if Pikkon can hold on to that narrow victory from last time."

"Yeah! Alright!" Goku cried, pumping a fist into the air.

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May 5th

Planet Vegeta

"Now arriving at Terminal 105, Flight 97 from Earth." a female voice sounded, echoing through the large space port and easily discernable even over the loud din of the crowd. "Now arriving at Terminal 105, Flight 97 from Earth. Now arriving at Terminal 238, Flight 33 from Tanaria. Now arriving at Terminal 238, Flight 33 from Tanaria."

"Hmm, early." Bulma said, glancing down at her watch. "The ship from Tanaria wasn't supposed to be here for another half an hour."

"Toma and the others were already over there waiting." Vadora said. "So it's not like there wont be anyone to greet Yamcha and Hotaru."

"Yeah, but I was hoping to be there..." Bulma said with a sigh. "It's been so long since I've had a chance to get away from the palace and just hang out with my friends. I never knew being a Queen was so... tiring."

Vadora chuckled as she noted the power readings taking shape on her scouter. As Bulma's personal body guard, a position she'd only just attained the previous month, she had to always be on the lookout for threats. Not that she really expected any. Bulma was a bit of a standout amidst a crowd of Sai-jins but here at the Space Port she blended in with the throngs of aliens pretty easily. And since neither she or Vadora were in uniform, or even formal wear, they were easily overlooked.

In fact, Vadora doubted that half the people in the terminal would recognize Bulma even if she were in her formal armor. Part of that was due to the fact that the Sai-jin Queen hadn't been seen much by the rest of the galaxy yet, having only gone to a small amount of formal affairs so far. The other part was due to her somewhat drastic change in appearance over the last several months.

She'd had her hair cut short again, it had been down passed her shoulders a few months ago. And, on top of that, she'd stopped dying it. Apparently blue-green hadn't been her natural hair color. Purple was. And she had yet to be seen in public, formally, with her new look. "Ah, that must be them." Vadora said as several powers of exactly one thousand appeared on her scouter with a few much smaller readings.

Sure enough, a moment later, Gohan, Piccolo, Videl, and the rest emerged from the docking hall that had attached to the ship out on the landing pad. Vadora raised her arm and waved soon catching the attention of Piccolo, the only one who could see over most of the heads in the crowd. With the Namek in the lead they pushed their way through the throngs of people, most of them parting to let the imposing green man through, and soon reached the two waiting women.

"Bulma?" Gohan asked blinking. "Is that you?"

"Yep! So, what do you think?" she asked running a hand across her hair. "Decided to go with my natural hair color."

"I didn't know you'd been dying it."

"Yeah, since I was fourteen actually. But with as hectic as things are here it's just too much hassle to deal with it." she said as they started moving through the Space Port toward terminal 238. "Wow, you two have really grown."

Videl laughed. "Well, it has been what, two, three years?" she said.

"Oh, I don't even remember anymore." Bulma said, shaking her head. "One day bleeds into the next lately. So, how are things holding together at Capsule Corp.?" she asked with a glance toward Krillin and Mijima.

Mijima shrugged. "The only problem we've had is at the North City plant, for some reason the reactor isn't pumping power into the plant. It's working and running, and we've restarted it several times, but the power just isn't getting to the systems. Other than that, pretty well, actually."

Krillin grinned. "That's because Mijima here has them all scared so they're working double time. I've never seen anyone move so fast as when she walks into a room." The others cracked up laughing as well for a moment. "But, it's not easy." the short man continued, after catching his breath. "I never realized how much work was involved in running a company. Even just part time like this..."

"Yeah, but it's fun." Bulma said smiling. "I'm just glad you guys are there to help out dad. He never was that good at running the place on his own."

They carried on their conversation as they continued walking. The crowds thinned a bit after a few more minutes and then suddenly a loud cry sounded from around the corner and the ground shook. Roshi, Hercule, and Chi-Chi fell over from the vibrations and Vadora instinctively reached up to her scouter and scanned everything.

"That's Toma and Tangerie's power readings." she said as the numbers took shape. Before she could say more, the wall at the corner shattered apart and collapsed as a very large blue skinned alien was smashed through it. Floating only a few feet from the damage was a little ten year old girl with a pulsing red aura and a not so happy expression on her face. She had shoulder length silver hair, black eyes, and was wearing a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt.

"Sakura, don't destroy the place!" a familiar voice called. A second later Hotaru ran around the corner and stopped beside the girl.

"Sorry mom..." the ten year old said relaxing as Yamcha walked up behind her scratching the back of his head and looking at the damage. Toma and Tangerie then walked up as well.

"What happened?" Gohan asked stepping passed the unconscious alien.

"Oh, Gohan!" Hotaru cried happily. "Wow, you've gotten big!"

"Hey Gohan!" Sakura cheered. Then she spied Goten. "Goten!" With that the three kids, Goten, Sakura, and her five year old sister Akemi, moved off to the side away from the others to talk.

"So, who's the oaf?" Krillin asked thumbing back to the downed man.

"Some would be thief. Tried to steal some lady's purse right in front of us. Leave it to Sakura to go after the guy, even with Toma and Tangerie right beside us." Yamcha said shaking his head. "She takes after her mother. Sometimes a little too much." This, in turn, got him an elbow in his side from Hotaru.

"So, the gang together again." Krillin said after a moment. "Well, almost. Where's Tien at anyway?"

"Looking after Cheri and Marron." Vadora answered. "Or, more likely, training with Raditz while Chaotzu looks after Cheri and Marron." she sighed and shook her head and Bulma laughed.

"Vegeta's the same way. When it's his turn to look after Trunks he always ropes someone else into it and then goes off to train."

"Oh, I know what that's like." Chi-Chi added with a shake of her head. "Goku did that all the time when Gohan was younger. And these days it's Gohan that's doing it with Goten."

"Yamcha's the same." Hotaru said as the women started walking away from the group. "He usually gets Kavar to look after the girls, or lately has Sakura look after Akemi, and then goes and does his own thing."

Gohan blinked and looked over to Yamcha. "Why am I getting the feeling that nothing good can come of this conversation?"

Yamcha sighed, slumped his shoulders, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Because nothing good ever comes about when women start talking about men."

"Aint that the truth." Roshi said with a sage nod.

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Sai-jin Palace

The adults had all gone off to do their own things. Some were heading off to do some last minute training, some wanted to get some rest and relaxation, and some had work that needed to be done. But it all had the same result, the kids were left in the care of Chaotzu. Or, had been. However, Chaotzu was currently sound asleep on the living room floor of his palace suite courtesy of a little sleeping powder mixed in with his water at dinner. That had been Trunks' idea.

Now they were creeping down the halls toward the main kitchen, that was Goten's idea. Their goal...? "Operation Rocky Road proceeding as planned." Sakura said softly into one of the scouters Cheri had nabbed from her mother's closet.

"Coast is clear on this end too." Came Trunks voice through the speaker in the device. The kids had divided up into two groups. Trunks, Goten, and Marron had taken the west hall. Sakura, Akemi, and Cheri the east.

"What about inside?" Sakura asked.

"I don't sense anybody..." Trunks replied after a moment. "But I can't be sure..."

Sakura was quiet for a moment as she thought. "Only one way to find out." she said at last. "I'm going in." She took a deep breath and slipped around the corner moving quickly for the large double doors into the kitchen. Reaching out she gripped the handle and pulled the door open slowly and peeked in. Not seeing anyone she opened it further and slipped inside. "It's empty, come on in." she said grinning and motioning out the door for Akemi and Cheri to follow her.

A second later the other door burst open as Goten and Trunks charged in. Both moved quickly making a beeline for the freezer. Yanking the door open the two grinned and drooled. "What'd I tell ya!" Trunks cried, grinning from ear to ear. "Stocked full of ice cream!"

"I've never seen so much ice cream before!" Goten said, wide-eyed.

Sakura chuckled as she walked up behind the two boys. "This is nothing, you should see the freezer in the cellar of the palace on Tanaria. It's got three times this much."

"Three times!?" Goten cried, his eyes going wider. "Wow!"

"Talk later, ice cream now!" Trunks said grabbing a few of the tubs. "Chocolate, Rocky Road, Vanilla, Strawberry, Butterscotch, Mint..." he read off the labels as he pulled them out and stacked them up. "There we go, one of each flavor. Let's get a place to sit."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

A/N: I know Autoro's segment seems short and quickly forgotten. But it's a set-up stuff later. MUCH later. But later just the same. 


	3. Oh Man, This is Big Trouble!

Chapter Three - Oh Man, This is Big Trouble! 

Trunks leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh as he rested his hands on his stomach. The empty tub, formerly full of ice cream, tipped over and rolled off the table falling to the floor with a soft thud. "Man, I'm stuffed..." he said yawning and stretching.

"Me too." Goten chirped before sticking another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

"Usually..." Sakura began as she dropped her spoon back into the half empty tub of chocolate ice cream she'd been sharing with Marron and her sister. "People stop eating when they're stuffed."

Goten looked up at her over his almost empty bucket of butterscotch and frowned. "But it's almost gone! I can't stop now!"

The eldest of the children sighed and shook her head. Boys would be boys and Sai-jins would be Sai-jins. She glanced over at where Cheri sat. The girl had three empty buckets around her and was half finished with a fourth. Not quite as much as Trunks and Goten's six tubs each, but still more ice cream than she and Akemi could eat, combined, in a week.

"We should probably clean up." Trunks said after a moment of silence. He sat up a bit and looked around at the minor mess they'd made. Melted ice cream on the table and floor, empty buckets scattered about, and their clothes... Well, his and Goten's at least, were a mess too. "Otherwise they'll figure it out and we'll still get in trouble."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, good idea. I saw a mop back in the kitchen area. I'll go get it and fill a bucket with water to mop down this floor. You and Goten should get some washcloths to clean up the tables."

"Right!" the boys said with a nod before taking off.

"What about me?" Cheri asked.

"Clean up the empty buckets and throw them out. Then get the partials and put them back in the fridge."

"Ok."

Sakura watched her go off and then turned to her sister. "I want you to keep an eye on Marron, ok?"

"Ok!"

"Good." she said, ruffling her hair and then she was off to get the mop. Working together the kids had the area cleaned up and back in order in under fifteen minutes. The task finished they returned their supplies to the kitchen and got ready to leave. Sakura took a look over the group as she prepared to put on the scouter. However, her hand stopped half way and her eyes moved over the others again quickly. /One, two, three, four.../ she blinked. /Akemi, Trunks, Goten, Cheri... where's Marron!?/

"Akemi, where's Marron?" she asked looking down at her little sister.

Akemi looked around, her short silver hair bouncing on her head as she did. "I... don't know... She was right with me five minutes ago..."

"I don't sense her in the room!" Trunks cried, eyes going wide. "She must have wondered off! Oh man, this isn't good..."

"Stay calm and relax." Sakura said, moving toward the nearest door. "She can't have gotten too far. We'll just have to..." she paused in both her talking and her walking. She could hear a conversation outside, faint and distant. Moving slowly she crept over to the door and opened it up a crack. Leaning forward she peeked out around it and down the hall to where two large Sai-jins were standing with their backs to her.

"I don't know about this Torrac." the shorter of the two said. "I mean, what if they find out it was us?"

"Quit your whining Rycel." the other replied in a deep voice. "Ornja knows what she's doing."

"Ya, but... I mean, the kid's parents have connections with the King... If Vegeta finds out we kidnapped her..."

"Well he wont find out because we're not gonna tell him. Look, it's simple, because they have the connections the kid is useful. If she wasn't connected to them we'd not need her." The larger of the two Sai-jins crossed his arms and scowled at the other. "Do you want the Sennari being run by any random nobody out there? The kid is our insurance that only the Sai-jins can lead the Sennari. Now come on, let's go."

"Oh no... this is..." Sakura said, closing the door and moving back a step into the room.

"What is it Sakura?" Goten asked.

"I think... I think the two guys in the hall kidnapped Marron..."

"What!?" Trunks cried. "Oh man, this is big trouble! We'll be in as much trouble as them when dad finds out!"

"He wont." Sakura said shaking her head. "No one will because no one's going to know this happened. We're going to go rescue her before they find out."

"Yeah, we can take them, no problem!" Akemi said, pumping a fist into the air. "We're the strongest there are!"

"Hey, it could be good training for the tournament!" Goten said grinning.

Trunks sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Well, it's certainly better than letting out parents find out about this. Come on, let's go before they get away."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Saiya City

Krillin stood in the middle of Saiya City, somewhere along Furuta Ave. and Vegeta Blvd., outside a store called Pear's Fashions, arms stacked high with boxes. In fact, the boxes stood four times taller than him. Beside him stood Yamcha, his arms also stacked up with boxes. "I can't believe this." Yamcha sighed, closing his eyes. "Remind me again how I got pulled into this?"

"Mijima said she'd kick your ass if you didn't come too?" Krillin replied.

"Oh, yeah, that."

Meanwhile, inside the store... "How's this?" Hotaru asked stepping out of the dressing room in a long red sparkling gown and turning slowly. It had a low back and wire thin straps over the shoulders that you couldn't even see.

The blonde woman sitting on the chair across from the dressing rooms looked her up and down and pursed lips. "Not bad, but I think you need a smaller size." she said after a moment. "Or at least a little shorter in length."

Hotaru frowned as she looked down at the floor. She was stepping on the bottom of the dress. "Yeah, Tanarians have shorter legs than Sai-jins." she said. "It's rather annoying when trying to buy clothes made by them. Even Humans are generally longer legged than us." she sighed. "Well, it's not too bad, and I can have it altered when I get back to Tanaria."

"True. It's a lot cheaper to buy this stuff while you're here than to import." Mijima said standing. "So, that's it for this store then?" she asked.

"Yep, last one from here." Hotaru said going back into the dressing room to change back into her street clothes. A moment later she came back out in her jeans and T-shirt and the two women took their clothes up to the counter. Five minutes later their husbands had four more boxes to hold and two bags. "Where to next?"

"Umm, how about back to the palace?" Yamcha asked. "So we can at least drop this stuff off?"

"Or, the capsule store?" Krillin asked, looking around his boxes toward the two women. "A few empty capsules would make this stuff a lot easier to carry..."

Mijima shrugged. "I guess we could stop at the capsule store. There's this nice jewelry store right next to it I want to check out anyway."

"Oh, I could use a few new necklaces." Hotaru said smiling. And with that, the women were off. The two men sighed and, best as they could manage, followed after their wives.

"I never knew being married would be this troublesome." Krillin said with a glance over to Yamcha.

The scarred Human shook his head. "I knew. I knew it and I went ahead with it anyway. I don't know, maybe I'm just dense or something."

"Maybe."

"Hey!"

"You said it first."

"You didn't have to agree!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace

The room shook violently as the Ki blast impacted the ground and exploded sending a column of dust and debris into the air. A black shadow formed inside the smoke and then a charging Sai-jin emerged surging across the room. The triclops floating across from the rushing Sai-jin tightened his stance and took a deep breath as he watched him come.

Palace life had, at first, been a hard fit for Tien. He much preferred seclusion to being surrounded by thousands of people. But as the months had passed he'd adjusted rather well quickly taking a liking to the decent supply of light sparring partners constantly at the ready. And then even taking a position as one of four head trainers within the palace.

Currently he was training with one of the Super Elites, Artoke. Easily the most skilled of the entire lot in Tien's opinion. Still, aside from the likes of Gohan, Vegeta and his father, and Raditz, there wasn't a Sai-jin on the planet that could give him a real fight. Vadora had kept up impressively thanks to her skills with the Kaio Ken. With that she could surpass his power, but only if he didn't use the Kaio Ken or Kinryoku to boost it too.

Tien's eyes narrowed as the first shot toward his face. Slipping to the side around the attempted blow he moved behind his opponent and countered with an elbow to the back that drove him down into the ground and knocked him out. Hearing light clapping from below he turned and looked and saw Raditz standing there, his white armor shining brightly in the light of the room.

"Still can't believe Artoke didn't get into the finals." Raditz said as Tien landed beside him.

The Human shrugged. "Luck of the draw. He fought Vadora in his block of the prelims." he said. "I've seen some of the others who made it in. The range in power from the top to the bottom is pretty big. Some of the finalists don't stand a chance."

Raditz nodded. "Even who makes it to the final match will be partly based on luck. Hopefully, though, it's not a completely uneven match-up. It would be nice for the championship match to be entertaining."

"It's possible." Tien said as he left the room, the Sai-jin following after him. "But I'm betting most of the good matches will be scattered about randomly. It's even entirely possible that the first match will be the best. Depends on how the tree fills out from the drawing later."

They walked in silence for a moment as Raditz thumbed through data on his scouter. "I'm surprised that only six races made it through to the finals." he said after a moment. "Counting the Half Sai-jins and Half Tanarians as Sai-jin and Tanarian respectively, that gives us... Twelve Sai-jins, Ten Tanarians, Five Humans, Two Nameks, One Taraganin, One Rondo, and One Blubor."

"Pong fought in the same block as Pug, didn't he?" Tien asked.

Raditz nodded. "Yep. Cleared through everyone like paper until he hit Pug. Pug, of course, didn't get any challenge at all. Pong was the second strongest in that block." Raditz pursed his lips as he read over the data. "This Eskarga has me interested."

"That's the other Namek, right?" Tien asked.

"Yeah. The only one other than Piccolo to even enter the prelims." replied the Sai-jin. "I wasn't really expecting any of them to enter. They're not exactly high warriors, despite their power." Raditz froze and blinked as he looked at the names on his scouter.

Tien had only gone a few steps before he realized the other man wasn't beside him anymore. Turning to look back he saw the shock on the Sai-jin's face. "Raditz? What is it?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Space Port

"Now arriving at Terminal 77, Flight 545 from Kanassa. Now arriving at Terminal 77, Flight 545 from Kanassa." the voice intoned over the com systems.

"Ah, that's them." a young man said smiling. Him and the woman standing with him watched as the people began to file out of the ship. A few moments later a long silver haired woman emerged among the throngs of blue skinned aliens, and right beside her was a black haired man with a baby in his arms.

"Over here!" the waiting woman called. The two others noticed and made their way over.

"Kazuki, Yuki, It's been a long time." the long haired woman said, nodding to each of them.

"It's good to see you again Sango." Yuki said. "Kavar, Akira, and Aiko have already gone ahead to get our rooms."

"So, she doesn't know we're here?"

Kazuki shook his head. "She's not had access to the competitors list. Can't see the full list unless you're on the planet. And I doubt she or the others are all that interested in who else is here."

"Well then, we should go say hello."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room

"Do we have to do this now?" Piccolo growled, scowling.

"I don't like it either." Vegeta said with a sigh. "But matters like this need to be dealt with quickly. If we let it slide for even a couple of hours it could snowball."

"Splinter factions will exist in any government though."

The was another sigh, this time from the other Sai-jin in the room, the former King Vegeta, now an advisor to his son and a Sennari senate member. "It's not as simple as that. This isn't just a faction forming, a party within the bigger picture. It's a splinter movement for a separate order."

His son nodded. "Under normal circumstances no Sai-jin would dare move against the throne like this. But with the Sennari forming the official capacity of the royal Sai-jin throne is reduced. If someone where to get the wrong idea about how this is supposed to work and believe that the Sai-jin royalty was being dissolved..."

The Namek sighed. "They'd no longer consider it moving against their King to act against him..."

"Right." Senator Vegeta said with a nod. "This faction believes that the crown has been subverted, that the royal family is no longer truly in power. Or, at least, that we wont hold any power after the Sennari's full formation. With an issue like this the faction wont go to the Sennari for resolution of the issue. They'll fight with fists, not words."

"Which is why we need to put a stop to this... Ornja and her followers now, before they disrupt the entire proceedings." Vegeta said. "The Galactic Games are the first official event of the Sennari, I don't want this entire thing to collapse before it gets started. Not after this much damn work to get it going."

"Right." Piccolo said, frowning. "Well, do we know where this Ornja is?"

"Not yet, unfortunately." said the Senator. "However, we've got people looking into it. We're scanning all the security footage and backtracking the messenger in hopes of finding the origins of that little note."

Piccolo glanced down at the paper in his hand again. The little piece of parchment that was the cause of his current headache. It demanded that the Sai-jins either assume a leadership position of the Sennari, with the Sai-jin Royal family at the head, or be removed from it completely. And it threatened, should those demands not be met, 'swift and decisive action against that which was weakening the Sai-jin people'.

The three in the room, the only three to know what the note said, weren't sure what that action would be and didn't want to find out either. Anything, anything at all that screwed up the Galactic Games, even the smallest incident, could bring the entire Sennari crashing down into shambles before it was even fully functioning. A problem at this juncture would spook too many races into backing out. No, the two Sai-jins were right. This had to be stopped now, before the last several years of work went down the proverbial drain.


	4. The New Super Elites!

Chapter Four - The New Super Elites!

"Shhh!" Sakura hissed, looking back at the others behind her. "If we want to find out where they took Marron we've got to be quiet so they take us to her."

"But I reeeeallllly have to peeee!" Goten said dancing back and forth. "Can't we just go make them tell us?"

"Goten's right." Trunks said crossing his arms. "I AM the Prince here, you know, I can just make them tell us."

"And what if they alert that Ornja lady?" Cheri said frowning.

"Tie them up or knock them out after they tell us." Trunks said with a shrug.

"Oh, yeah, real smart there." Sakura said with a roll of the eyes. "And what if they're supposed to check in or something and don't? Ornja could be gone by the time we get to her location."

"But I have to PEE!" Goten wailed.

"Ugh, fine..." Sakura said looking around. They'd made their way pretty deep into the palace. They were in a part that wasn't even used these days. An old military barracks that had been closed down for some reason or other a long time ago. She spied a door that was cracked open a little to the side and peeked in. "Here, go in there and use a corner or something."

Goten nodded rappidly, Sakura was suprised his head didn't fly off his shoulders, and hurried into the room. A second later there was a sound like running water and a long sigh. Sakura closed her eyes and hung her head a little as Cheri and Akemi giggled. A few moments later Goten came back out into the hall still retying his belt. "Ok, I'm done!"

"Good, now can we get going again?" Sakura asked. Goten nodded so she turned her attention back to the scouter she had on. It was easier to track these two with the scouter than with their senses. The scouter had a map overlay of the palace, even this disused portion, and that came in handy for tailing the two Sai-jins. "Hmm, they've stopped..."

"Any other powers there?" Trunks asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No, there's... what the...?"

"What is it?" asked Cheri.

"They... vanished."

"Maybe they lowered their powers." Akemi said, looking up at her sister.

"No, the powers didn't drop, they just vanished."

"Sheilding." Trunks said, furrowing his brow. "I've been learning recent history and just last week Pug told me about a Namek named Slug that had armor on his ship that blocked senses and scouters. Mom's been researching some of the metal she found from his destroyed ship and started producing her own a few months back. These guys must have gotten hold of some of it."

"So... now what?" Goten asked.

"Akemi?" Sakura asked, kneeling down in front of her sister. "Think you could take a look?"

"Ummmm, I don't know... I can try."

"Ok." Sakura said. "That's all I ask, just try. If you can't that's ok."

"Ok." Akemi said closing her eyes. The five year old focused her young mind reaching out with her senses. Tanarian's had mental abilities of varrying degrees, Sakura's were a little below average but Akemi's were well above superior. She could do things only a few were cappable of, and even a few things that no one else could.

As she focused the darkness cast by the back of her eyelids vanished and a distorted view of the hall and her friends took shape. The edges of her vision seemed to be stretched and rippling. With her mind's eye now open and her astral form free of her body she moved through the halls, or her astral body did. It passed through the walls like they weren't even there and followed the softly spoken guiding of her sister toward where the two Sai-jins had been a moment ago.

It took a moment to find the area and she looked around. A door stood out on the wall different than the rest. Newer, cleaner, and not as rusted. She moved toward and then through it emerging into a large room that had boxes stacked up along the walls, a large round table in the middle with chairs arround it, and a couch in the back where Marron was currently sitting tied up.

The view faded away into blackness and the girl opened her eyes again. She smiled as she looked up at her sister. "I saw her!" she said happily. "There's a room down there, and there's five people in it at a table. Marron's on the couch and they tied her arms together."

"Five of them? You sure?" Trunks asked.

Akemi nodded. "Yep. I counted them twice to make sure!"

"Alright, let's move." Sakura said starting down the hall. The kids moved quickly following Sakura and Akemi's directions. In a few minutes they reached the door the young girl had mentioned. It was clearly brand new and very much out of place among the rest of the dis-repaired halls. "I still find it odd that any part of a palace that's still being used would end up like this."

"Yeah." Trunks said frowning as he wiped a little dust off the wall with a finger. "They stopped using this area about two hundred years ago, dad said. One of my ancestors was killed here and his brother had the area closed down while they investigated. Apparently he died before openning it again and it just sort of stayed closed." he said with a shrug.

"Well, whatever, let's just get Marron and go." Cheri said walking up to the door. "Hey, Trunks, Goten, stay back here, ok?"

"Huh, what for?" Goten asked.

Cheri smirked. "You two would scare them too much. It wont be as much fun if their shaking in fear."

"Why would we scare them?" Goten asked blinking.

Trunks sighed. "Because I'm the Prince and you're the brother of the strongest person in the galaxy." he explained.

"Oh. But, staying out here wont be any fun..."

Sakura put a hand on Goten's head and ruffled his spikey hair. "You can catch anyone that slips passed us." she said. "Incase they try to get away."

"Well... ok." Goten said after a moment. While he and Trunks moved back to the wall across from the door Cheri reached up and activated it. It slid aside with a hiss and quickly drew the attention of those inside. The three girls walked into the room and the door hissed shut behind them.

"Heh, just a bunch of brats." one of the Sai-jins laughed as all five visibly relaxed. The five were sitting around the table, two on the left, two on the right, and one directly across from where the girls stood. Sakura recognized the two on the left as Torrac and Rycel. She could see them better now. Rycel was short, only about four and a half foot tall, and a little on the thin side, though his musscles were still well defined.

Torrac was at least six foot tall and his chest was as thick as a tree, his arms and legs not much smaller. While Rycel's hair was short and stuck straight up in dozens of spikes while Torrac's was long, hanging half way down his back, and even more wild than Raditz's. He also had a scar going across his forhead.

The two on the right Sakura didn't know. A male and a female. The female was at around five foot and had her long hair pulled back into a ponytail that stuck up and out at least a foot before curing down and still reaching her waist. She had a number of scars on her arms and had well defined musscles and quite pronounced curves.

The man was only a couple inches taller than her. His body was a little thicker than that of Rycel and while the top of his head was bald he had a spikey horseshoe of hair wrapping around his head. He too bore a scar on his face, a criss crossing X scar over his left eye which was covered by an eye patch.

The other Sai-jin there, also a woman, had shoulder length hair. She had five or six tufts sticking up and back and the rest hung down. Her muscles were well defined as well and she bore no visible scars. She did, however, have a deep scowl etched on her face. The first four were in white and black armor bearing the palace insignia, meaning they were palace security. The fifth wore a red and white armor meaning she was one of the Hunters, the Sai-jins that tracked down and captured fugitive Sai-jins that had royal contracts on their heads. She was most likely the Ornja she'd heard mentioned.

Sakura could feel the powers now that she was inside the room and all five had definately earned their positions. Not that even just the three of them would have any real trouble handling them. They could over power all five of them without any trouble. Sakura looked passed them and saw Marron sitting on the couch with her hands tied, just as Akemi had said. "You ok Marron?" she asked.

The little girl nodded. "Yes. They said they'd give me candy but they lied!" she said pouting.

"You know you shouldn't go with people you don't know Marron." Cheri said with a frown.

"I know..." Marron said, pouting more. "You're not gonna tell mommy and daddy, are you?" she asked suddenly.

"No." Sakura said, crossing her arms. "That's why we're here. They're not going to know about this because we'd get in trouble too."

"Heh, would you look at that, they know each other." Torrac laughed.

"What I find amusing..." the guy on the right started. "Is they think they can rescue their friend by themselves."

"Well, Rhubar, they're just kids." the woman beside him said laughing. "They don't know any better."

"Careful there, Apalla." Rycel said looking them over. "The two silver haired ones aren't an issue, they're Tanarians for sure. No power until they're older. But the other kid looks like a Sai-jin."

Apalla looked over to the kids again and gave them each a quick look over. The oldest girl with her silver hair, black eyes, black pants, white t-shirt, and scouter. The other silver haired girl was obviously the youngest. She had orange eyes, shoulder length hair like the other, dark blue pants, and a light blue t-shirt. The third girl had black eyes, wild black hair that stuck up everywhere but would have reached just passed her shoulders if it didn't, and had on green pants, a white t-shirt, and a red belt around her waist with a slight but, now that she was looking, noticable bulge to its center that moved slightly now and again.

"Hmm, I think you're right about her." she said. "Seems she's got a tail. Still, not even the King was as strong as I am now when he was a child."

"What do you think Ornja?" Rhubar asked. "Hold them too? Might make for more leverage. If they know blondie here then their parents probably have some connection to our King too."

"You couldn't handle our parents." Sakura said, putting her hands on her hips. "Or Marron's for that matter. Not that you could handle us, either."

"Hmph. Arrogant kid, isn't she?" Apalla asked smirking.

"I know them..." Ornja said slowly, finally speaking. "Why do they look so familiar...?"

"Oh, hey!" Akemi cried, eyes widening a bit. "You're that lady! The one that came for the guy daddy caught!"

The four other Sai-jins arround the table blinked at the kid and then looked over to Ornja to see if she knew what the child was talking about. Ornja's scowl deepened a little as she thought. It had been a few months since she'd been sent out on a mission, the last one was to... Tanaria. She'd gone to recover an escapee from a prison transport that had found his way to Tanaria and wound up drawing the King's attention...

Ornja's eyes widened in disbelief. The Tanarian King, the Human named Yamcha, had been the one to capture her target on Tanaria. That meant that... the kid was... Suddenly she smirked. "I think you're right about that Rhubar, they do have a connection. The two silver haired brats are the Tanarian princesses."

"What!?" Rycel cried, turning to look at them, eyes going wide. Slowly the shock faded and a grin took form on his face. "Well, isn't this a nice turn of events, eh? They'll prove great leverage."

"I don't know what it is you're after." Sakura said glancing from one to the other. "But you wont be getting it. Now, give Marron back or before we take her back."

Ornja snorted. "I'm a Super Elite, kid. You couldn't even scratch me."

"Low end of Super Elite." Cheri said, looking the woman over. "Much lower than us."

Torrac started laughing, putting his hands on his stomach and leaning back in his chair. "Little brats, Super Elites!" he cried, shaking with his laughter.

"Why's that funny?" Akemi asked, looking up at her sister. 

"Because he doesn't think it's possible." she answered with a shrug.

"I'll admit..." Torrac said after a moment. "That there are a few unique cases out there. That Gohan kid, for one. Damn powerhouse, that one. And according to rummor the Prince is already a Super Elite too. But those are it, kid. Besides, you're Tanarian. No Ki control until you're eighteen."

Sakura smiled. "Normally, yes." she said. "But we're hybrids, hybrids are different. Our Ki control starts waking up around the age of four, and by five we're perfectly cappable." To prove her point and back up her words Sakura flared up her aura. A spark of red came just below her feet and then her aura shot up around her, the rush of energy blowing her clothes about and cracking the floor under her feet. "Now, giving up yet?"

"Bah, I'll knock them out." Apalla said standing as she recovered from her shock. "They're becoming annoying."

Sakura turned to face her and motioned with her arm for the other two to move aside. Akemi did so right away but Cheri hesitated before following suit. With them out of the way she lowered her arm again. "Well, I'll make this quick then. Sanjuu Kinryoku!" Her red aura flashed and flared up brighter as it turned silver. And then she vanished. 

A second later there was a loud crack as she appeared once again, beside Apalla, fist smashed into her stomach. The Sai-jin hung there for a second and then, as Sakura moved her fist away, collapsed to the floor unconcious. The child turned sensing movement behind her but before getting all the way around another crack sounded as a bright blue light flashed. Floating between her and Rhubar was Cheri, small arm held up holding off the man's punch, deep blue aura coursing around her.

"Let's just knock them out and go." Cheri said. "We don't know how much longer Chaotzu's going to be sleeping, we'll still get in trouble if he wakes up and we're not there."

"Right." Sakura said, vanishing again. Four more cracks sounded in the room almost simultaneously. The Sai-jin kidnappers dealt with the two girls moved over to Marron and untied her. "Well, let's go." Sakura said. "And remember Marron, don't tell anyone about this, ok?"

"I know. Mommy would be mad at me if she found out, I wont tell."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace, Hallway

"Raditz?" Tien repeated, turning to face him completely. "What is it?"

"One of the... people in the tournament..." the Sai-jin said slowly. He paused again and then blinked and shook his head. "No, that's not possible. It has to be a fake name, some arrogant fighter..."

"What are you talking about?"

"One of the names on the competitors list." the other said after a moment. "Tatamo."

"Tatamo? Should that mean something?"

"Oh, sorry." Raditz said, his composure returning. "Tatamo is a legend among our people, the first great Sai-jin hero. There's a number of legends surrounding him. He was the right hand man of the first King and, according to myth, was the one to defeat Yadish when he returned. Supposedly gaining a power that surpassed that of Super Sai-jin."

"What, like the second transformation?"

"No, something unique that was given him by an alien." Raditz said. "A power that was so far above even the King of the time, even when he was a Super Sai-jin, that he was like a god, or even beyond a god."

Tien nodded. "Well, it could just be someone with the same name."

"No, it couldn't. No one's been given that name since." Raditz informed him. "It's an unspoken law, tradition... it's taboo. Just like only the royal family can carry the name Vegeta no one can carry the name Yadish or Tatamo. Yadish because it's considered an evil name and Tatamo because he is the closest thing to a holy figure we've ever had.

"Well, whatever. Like I said, it can't be the real Tatamo. He died more than ten thousand years ago. It's probably some arrogant idiot who thinks he can take the entire tournament. Should be interesting to see how good he really is, at least."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room

Piccolo lowered the data viewer and looked over toward the two royals. "They've managed to find a possible location for this Ornja's hideout." he said. "Apparently there's been activity in an unused portion of the palace. The Level 4 D Barracks?"

Vegeta frowned. "That would make a good hiding area. Right in plain sight but still out of view. No one goes in there. Well, then, let's go check it out."

Piccolo nodded and made his way out the door, Vegeta and his father following after him. The younger of the two Sai-jin's soon took the lead, however, as they made their way through the halls. It took almost twenty minutes to get from where they'd been to the Level 4 D Barracks. "There's definately people here." the Namek said after a moment.

"I sense them too." said Vegeta. They were low, faint, but there. The three made the trip in silence, following the powers they sensed and backtracking when a hall dead ended on them. At last they reached the room the powers were coming from, the door hanging wide open. All three raised an eyebrow as they looked into the room. Two Sai-jin's lay sprawled on the floor and three others were slumped over the table in the middle of the room. 

It was now obvious why the powers were so low and faint. The five of them were unconcious. Probably would be for several days at the least. "It looks like someone beat us to the punch." Vegeta said, noting the snaking cracks on the floor, a clear sign of a sudden power release.

"Indeed." said his father as he stepped into the room and gazed at the five downed Sai-jins. "And they had considerable power too. These four are Elite and that one is a Super Elite." The three of them glanced about at the unconcious Sai-jins a moment longer before picking them up and carrying them off to the brig. 


	5. Last Minute Preparations

Chapter Five - Last Minute Preparations

Krillin happily pocketed the capsule case that now held his wife's purchases. Yamcha did the same a moment later, both men glad they wouldn't have to lug around all those boxes and bags anymore. "Oh, aren't we supposed to meet Bulma soon?" Krillin asked, noticing the time on the clock on the store wall.

"We've still got twenty minutes." Hotaru said with a glance at the clock. "The coffee shop she said to meet her at isn't that far. We can still poke around the jewelry store a bit."

The four of them made their way toward the door and outside once more. Turning toward the jewelry store right beside the capsule store they then froze. There were four people standing before them they'd not expected to see, two of whom they'd not seen in more than five years. Hotaru's eyes widened, her mouth opened, and then a smile spread across her face. "Sango!" she cried moving forward quickly and hugging her friend.

Mijima was more interested in the man beside the silver haired woman. The one holding the silver haired infant. The one smiling and looking happier than she'd ever seen him look. He was still dressed the same as ever but looked quite different with such a peaceful and happy look in his eyes. "Gainin..." she said smiling.

"Oh, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? When did you get here? How did you get time off?" Hotaru asked in rapid fire succession as she pulled back from her friend.

"We just arrived." Sango said laughing. "And we wanted it to be a surprise. We're here for the tournament. Competing in it, actually. Even ambassadors as busy as me can swing a few weeks off for something this big." She paused for a moment, her smile growing a bit, and then continued. "And I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Hiroshi, our son." she said, motioning to the infant.

"Your..." Hotaru started, looking over toward the sleeping child.

"Gainin?" Mijima asked, the shock evident in her voice and in her eyes.

Her brother nodded. "Surprising, isn't it?" he asked, looking down at the kid in his arms. "I'm still getting used to it myself."

"I..." Mijima started. Her mouth kept moving but no more words came out.

"I know." Gainin said laughing softly. "It's a lot to absorb, isn't it? Things have... changed a lot since we lived with our father, haven't they?"

Mijima nodded. "Yeah. They have." she said, casting a glance toward Krillin.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Control Room

Vadora sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Soon as she'd returned to the palace with Bulma and the others she'd set off for the Galactic Games Arena leaving Mango in charge of the Queen's security. She had other matters to deal with. She'd been put in charge of organizing the final preparations for the tournament. Not an easy task, even with the crew of one thousand she had working with her.

Right now she was trying to figure out why the Barrier Field Generators weren't working. Without those the simplest energy blast could cause major damage to the stands. And cause the deaths of numerous spectators. Definitely not something you want to happen at the first official formal function of a new ruling government. The barriers were intended to prevent that.

Capsule Corp., with Bulma heading up the project, had spent three years developing these new units. They were capable of completely resisting anything less than fifteen million without issue. That meant the average person wouldn't stand a chance of buckling the barrier. Even the former King turned Senator, the strongest of the base level Sai-jins, would have trouble breaking through this system.

True, Senator Vegeta's power was over fifteen million, but even being over fifteen million wouldn't ensure breaking through. The system had redundancy back-ups for reinforcing the barrier. Technically speaking, it could double its resistancy power if the area of impact was small enough. Basically, less than ten feet in diameter. Still not enough to contain the numerous Super Sai-jins that would be participating, the powerful Piccolo, or even Senator Vegeta if the attack was large enough. But it was a good safety measure just the same.

Well, if it worked. Otherwise it was just a waste of time constructing them. Bulma had already been over the systems three times in the last two months. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them. Each unit was functioning. The Erido Generator that powered the system, separate from the one that powered the rest of the stadium, was operational. The data line to the computer was intact. The operating software on the control computer was working fine, no bugs or errors.

"So why the hell isn't the system engaging?" Vadora groaned.

"Umm, sorry to interrupt Captain..." a voice came from behind her.

Vadora turned and saw the young Captain of the arena's security force, her white and yellow armor glinting in the light from the monitors around the room. She was about six foot tall, exceedingly tall for a Sai-jin female, had spiky hair that almost rivaled that of Vegeta and his father, and much softer features than you'd expect on a powerful and battle hardened soldier. Even if she was only just over twenty. "What is it Mellona?"

"Well, another problem." she said with a sigh.

"Of course. I should have known. What now?"

"Well, I just got a call from the Palace. Seems the Arena A Barracks served bad food at lunch today. Four hundred and seven of the four hundred and eighty three personnel that reside there have food poisoning. They'll be out of commission for the next three days."

Vadora groaned, turned back around, and put her head down in her arms. "How many does that leave you with?" she asked, her voice muffled by her arms.

"Four hundred and two." Mellona replied.

The other woman straightened up and looked over at one of the terminals checking out the security plans real quick to refresh her mind about them. "That definitely wont work." she said after a moment. "We need at least six hundred to cover this size of an area effectively with the amount of people we'll have here."

Vadora sighed again. "Let me check something." she said as her fingers danced across the keyboard. A moment later she smiled. "Perfect, this will do nicely. I'll have the Gold Squad's 5th and 6th divisions fill in for your missing men. There's two hundred and twenty of them in all. How's that?"

"That works ma'am."

"Alright, dismissed."

"Umm, actually, there's one other issue."

"What?"

"The head of maintenance says the back-up battery for the main back-up generator must have been faulty. It's completely dead. He needs a replacement."

"Tell him to check the stock room, there should be three other batteries in there."

"Well, he said this was the last of them, that he's already changed it three times."

Vadora closed her eyes and groaned again. "Alright. If that's everything you can go."

Mellona bowed and left, not that Vadora noticed, she was back to staring at the screen that showed the current state of the barriers. They were still off even though she'd turned them on almost a half hour ago. Reaching over to the switch she flipped it again and shut the system down. As she heard the click of the switch she noticed the screens flicker.

She froze in her current position and narrowed her eyes a little. In a rush of movement she stood and moved over to another terminal. Leaning over the chair, not bothering to waste the time to sit, she punched in a few commands. A moment later a 3D model of the GGA appeared on screen. She located the control room first and then checked out the locations of both generators, the stock room, and the back-up battery control core.

The generator for the barrier field system was about twenty feet to the right of her location, a hundred feet below her. The stock room was five feet more to the right than that and a floor lower. The back-up battery control core was located directly to the right of the barrier generator. To the right of that was the generator for the primary GGA systems. She cast her eyes to the left of all this and looked.

That's where the staff cafeteria was located. "The power's gone out in there about a dozen times in the last two weeks." she said thoughtfully. Moving from that terminal she returned to where she'd been before and punched in several new commands. She watched as the on screen read-out shifted and the Barrier Field Generators linked up to the primary Erido Generator. Taking a deep breath she reached over and flipped the switch to activate the system.

There was a loud whine from outside the room, dozens of sparks of light from below, and then a red light shimmered through the air for a second before vanishing. Vadora smirked. The barriers were now on-line. "So, then, what the hell is draining the power of everything down around the Erido Generator for the system?" she wondered.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room

Hotaru had spent the twenty minutes she'd intended to use for jewelry shopping talking to Sango while Mijima talked to her brother. Kazuki and Yuki had left for the hotel shortly after they'd met up. That's when the Tanarian Queen learned that Kavar, Aiko, and Akira had all made it into the tournament as well. Eventually Yamcha managed to get a word in and remind his wife that they were supposed to be meeting up with Bulma. Sango and Gainin decided to come along as well.

They'd sat at one of the outside tables the cafe offered with Bulma and Mango and spent almost two hours just talking and hanging out. Mango almost forgot after a bit that three of those present at the table where royalty, they seemed just like any average people. Apparently everyone else thought the same as no one seemed to recognize any of them.

Eventually the group made its way back to the palace. The drawing for the tournament was going to be held soon and they wanted to see who would be fighting who. It'd be a good chance to see just how interesting the tournament would be. Now they, along with the others from Earth and Tanaria, were gathered in the conference room waiting for the drawing.

"So, they were all just unconscious?" Raditz asked a bit shocked.

"Utterly." Vegeta replied. "And they've got some rather nasty bruises now too, from where the knockout blows landed. They were seriously out matched by who ever found them before us." The kids all glanced at each other, unnoticed by the adults. They were all thankful when the conversation turned off to another topic.

"So, how was the movie?" Yamcha asked, looking toward Videl and Gohan. The two teens had decided to go check out a movie in the city after they'd arrived.

"Eh." Videl said shrugging. "It was ok. Not much in the way of plot though, mostly just stuff blowing up."

"Sounds good to me." Toma said grinning.

The conversation was cut off there as the drawing came on the screen in the room. "Welcome to the drawing for the primary tournament of the Galactic Games ladies and gentlemen!" a male voice said happily as the image panned over the GGA. "We had over ten thousand people sign-up to compete but, as you know, only 32 can compete in the main tournament, and only one can be called strongest in the galaxy!" The screen shifted to the grass fields outside the arena and the pink skinned alien that was the source of the voice.

"The preliminary matches to determine those 32 competitors for the tournament were held over the last two months all over the galaxy. The last of the matches was held, and the last of the finalists determined, just four days ago. And now, after running the names of our 32 fighters through our computer and having it randomize them, we have the battle list for the tournament."

The screen changed to show the tournament tree so that each competitors name could be displayed as they were announced. "Match 1, Dubibub Vs. Eskarga! Match 2, Cheri Vs. Kazuki! Match 3, Tatamo Vs. Mijima! Match 4, Aiko Vs. the Tanarian King, Yamcha! Match 5, the Tanarian Princess, Akemi Vs. Krillin! Match 6, Pug Vs. Piccolo! Match 7, the Sai-jin Prince, Trunks Vs. Tien! Match 8, Vadora Vs. Sango! Match 9, Toma Vs. Kavar! Match 10, Niono Vs. Videl! Match 11, Mango Vs. Gainin! Match 12, Gohan Vs. Yuki! Match 13, Senator Vegeta Vs. Akira! Match 14, the Tanarian Princess, Sakura Vs. Tangerie! Match 15, Raditz Vs. Goten! Match 16, the Sai-jin King, Vegeta Vs. the Tanarian Queen, Hotaru!"

The screen held for a moment and then changed back to the alien. "And that's our tournament folks! Be sure to tune in in two days for the first round of matches!"

"Well, this should be interesting." Raditz said. "Doesn't look like I'll get passed the second round, though..."

"I feel bad for Yuki." Hotaru said. "That's probably the worst draw of the entire tournament, fighting Gohan in the first round."

"Lord Vegeta!" a familiar voice called from the doorway as the doors slid open.

"What is it Vadora?"

"I need a full sweep of the arena, ASAP."

"What? Why?"

"I've figured out why the barrier system wasn't working. Something was sapping out all of the power. From the Erido Generator, the Back-up Battery System, the back-up batteries stored in the stock room, and even some of the appliances in the staff cafeteria." Vadora explained. "I don't know what's causing it, it only started a couple of weeks ago. But there's the chance..."

"Right." Vegeta said with a nod. "I'll send a sweeper team over within the hour."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Unknown Location

Ravenna stood pouring over the data that filled the screen before her. It was flowing almost faster than she could keep up with it. "Any change?" her father asked.

"Lots." she replied, keeping her eyes on the monitor. "The energy disruptions in the fleet outside have been halted completely now. Once they managed to get the shields up the drains stopped, just like Razor said they would."

"What about the charge?"

"Still increasing." she replied. "Looks like the dimension barriers are thin in about eight points across the North Galaxy alone. Seventeen across the universe. Three of the North Galaxy points are on Planet Vegeta alone..."

"To be expected." Razor said entering the room. "The powers that have resided there near constantly over the millennia of existence would cause weakenings. It's the same on the Changeling homeworld, though to a lesser extent. That's why there are only two weakenings there."

Ravenna nodded. "One on Earth and one on Tanaria as well... but none on Namek?"

"Parunga's doing, no doubt. Don't forget, he restored the planet a few years back. He probably repaired the fabric of space in the process." Razor explained. "So, what's the estimation now?"

"About five more days." she said. Her eyes narrowed then as new data entered her monitor. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" asked her mother.

"Transport 13's power core is cracked from the drains." she said. "The ship's energy is starting to leak, the entire thing is destabilizing..."

"Can they fix it?" her father asked quickly.

"They're trying to but they're not sure. The cargo is being transferred to other transports now, just in case. But they're too scared to move... him."

"Can't blame them, really." Razor said walking over beside Ravenna.

"I don't care how scared they are." Raven's mate growled. "Moving him to a secure location is top priority. Tell them if anything happens to that cargo they'll have more to fear than an unconscious Sai-jin!"


	6. Game Day

Chapter Six - Game Day

Vegeta had, indeed, sent a sweeper team through the arena. Ten times. They'd not found the cause of the power drain but they had found the source. A small point near the back of the generator room was giving off odd readings while the systems were off, and resonated with the generator while it was on, sapping the power from it. In the end it was determined to be some odd natural phenomenon, one that interested Bulma but wasn't particularly dangerous.

A portable generator was brought in and hooked up to the primary systems and the barrier systems were linked in to the generator that normally ran the primary systems. It was a patchwork job but it'd hold for now. They'd have to either find a way to get rid of the phenomenon or work around it after the tournament end. The fighters spent the rest of the time before the tournament resting up and relaxing. Especially those with challenging first rounds.

Now it was May 7th, the day of the tournament. Everyone was gathered at the arena now, the sun just rising over the horizon. It was just shy of six in the morning and there were already close to a thousand spectators milling about, not counting the eight hundred stadium personnel. Among them were most of the participating fighters who were currently gathered in the competitors area.

The first matches didn't start for two hours yet but they had to be there early to get ready. Raditz stood with Tien but was busy scanning the crowd of people looking for the fighter who'd entered under the Tatamo name. He recognized most of the Sai-jins present. In fact, aside from two of them, they were all friends, family, or royalty. Unfortunately, since he didn't know what Niono look like he couldn't really tell which of the two unknown Sai-jins was the supposed Tatamo.

Still, he looked both of them over and sensed out their strengths in an attempt to figure out who was who. The one was a large man, nearly eight foot tall and very much looking like a living tank. Few Sai-jins ever really got that large or muscle bound, but this guy was massive. He figured the guy's fists were about the same size as, if not large than, Videl's head. And he doubted any of the children save Sakura would reach as high as his waist.

He wore a black body suit with white boots and gloves and his tail wrapped about his waist. That was one of the restrictions for the tournament, battle armors were not allowed. Thus why he himself was in just his body suit, boots, and gloves, just like Toma and the rest. The large Sai-jin had some really wild and spiky hair as well that added at least another foot and a half to his height. It looked almost like he'd stuck his fingers in a light socket.

The other unknown Sai-jin was quite the contrast. He was short, maybe five foot even, putting him an inch taller than Vegeta. Well, minus the royal's hair. He was toned but still trim, though his muscles were extremely defined and looked like they packed far more power than their size should allow. His hair was like a shorter version of Raditz's own hair, going only just below his shoulder blades instead of well down his back. There were also a few spikes jutting out this way and that making it look almost like a mix of his hair and his father's or brother's.

His outfit was what really caught Raditz's eye, however. While the man appeared to be thirty at the oldest his clothes were of a much older style, a style that hadn't been worn since before the Sai-jin and Changeling empires had first encountered each other. The top was made of animal fur, in this case the brown fur of probably a large Borenath. It was a basic garment, just a simple tunic like top. The pants were made of blue-gray animal skin, by looks of it the hide of a Dalaphane, an aquatic native of the planet's oceans.

Neither Sai-jin was as powerful as him. The large one was the stronger of the two. Somewhere around a hundred thousand he'd estimate. The other was probably around thirty thousand. /Hmph. Just like I thought, someone's too over confident for their own good. Still, I wonder which one's which?/

Hearing the doors behind him hiss open he turned to look and saw the last of the fighters enter the room. Namely, Gohan, Piccolo, Videl, and Goten. "I was starting to think you'd miss the tournament." he said grinning.

"Not a chance." Videl replied. "I've still got to kick Gohan's butt." she joked.

While the Sai-jins held their conversation Piccolo narrowed his eyes. He felt a presence in the room that seemed somehow... familiar. His eyes scanned the room for a moment and then came to rest on one of the other fighters. The short Sai-jin Raditz had just been scrutinizing. /What is this feeling?/ Piccolo wondered. /Why does something about his Ki seem so familiar?/

The Sai-jin suddenly turned to look toward the group, his eyes momentarily meeting Piccolo's. He held his gaze for a moment and then smiled faintly and nodded to him before moving his gaze toward the others. Spying Gohan his smile grew and he made his way over to them. Piccolo followed him and, after he'd drawn a bit closer, so did Raditz upon noticing him nearing.

"Hello there. You're Gohan, aren't you?" he asked, looking at the teen as he reached the group.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I am." Gohan replied, noticing the man for the first time.

"It's a shame we are so far apart in the tournament." the Sai-jin said. "I was looking forward to fighting you. Now it seems I may not get the opportunity. I do look forward to seeing what you are capable of though, Gohan."

"Uh, thanks." Gohan said, scratching the back of his head.

"Gohan's going to win!" Goten cheered. "I'm going to try my best but no one can beat Gohan!"

The man smiled down at the child. "Well, we shall see." he said. "Well, I'll see you in the ring then." he said after a moment, bowing lightly, and then walking away from them.

"So, who was that?" Videl asked, looking over to Raditz.

"No idea. I've not seen him before." he said. "But I'd say, based on the fact he seemed to be suggesting he might take the tournament, and that he wants to fight Gohan, that he's the one using the name Tatamo."

"Did you say Tatamo?" Vadora asked walking over to the group with Mango, Tangerie, and Toma. "I'd heard someone was using his name. You think he's the one?"

"Has to be." Toma said. "That large tank over there is Niono. So that other guy is the only unknown Sai-jin here."

"What do you mean by using the name?" Videl asked, confused.

"No Sai-jin is given the name Tatamo these days." Mango said simply. "It was the name of a hero among the Sai-jin people about ten thousand years ago, that was the last time it was used."

Piccolo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes a little further. "Hmmm, I wonder."

"Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

The Namek shook his head. "It's not that important. But... I do think I'll go speak with him a moment."

"What's with him?" Tangerie asked as Piccolo walked off.

Gohan shook his head. "I don't know. I guess he senses something that's got him curious." he replied.

Piccolo followed the Sai-jin across the large room to where the refreshment table was set up. By the time the Namek reached him the Sai-jin was filling a plate with food. "So, Tatamo, is it?" Piccolo asked, stopping behind him.

"That's the name I was born with." he said, not looking back. There was a moment of silence as he looked over the food. Finally he picked up a few pieces of meat and placed them on his plate. "I take it you recognize my aura?"

"Should I?" Piccolo asked.

The Sai-jin paused for a moment and then looked back at him. "Come now, Namek, you used to be a Guardian. Though I find it odd you left your position..."

Piccolo's eyes widened. "Wait, you're...?"

He nodded once. "Don't mention it, though." he said, turning back to his food. "I want to see what the current generation is capable of, don't want knowledge of my position affecting things."

"Is that why you're here?" he asked. "You could have observed from above."

"I spoke with a friend of mine." he said after a moment. "About three months ago she paid me a visit, told me about you guys. She thought I might be interested, and she was right. Observing is fine, but it's been some time since I've had company, or a good fight. I am a Sai-jin, after all."

Piccolo smirked a bit. He had a point with that. "So, have you been Guardian here for the last ten thousand years?" Piccolo asked.

"No." Tatamo replied. "I spent time... elsewhere, for a while." he said. "I didn't take the post until around five hundred years ago."

"That's still quite a while."

Tatamo shrugged. "What about you? I've never heard of someone giving up their post."

"I wasn't the Guardian." Piccolo said. "Not exactly. My other half was."

"Ah, Namekian Fusion." Tatamo said, nodding in understanding. "You're one of the ones I'm looking forward to seeing fight." he said after a moment. "Azura says you're quite the skilled warrior."

"Azura?!" Piccolo asked, a bit shocked.

Tatamo nodded as he started eating. "She would be the friend that mentioned all of you." he said. "Well, if you'll excuse me, it's been a while since I've had food like this." he said walking off.

Piccolo watched him go and shook his head. This was looking like it would be another interesting tournament. His life had been full of those so far so he wasn't particularly surprised this one would be the same.

Elsewhere in the room the children had gathered together to hold a small meeting of their own. Upon seeing the one missing member of their group arrive Cheri went off to get him and so she overheard the conversation between Tatamo and Gohan. Now they were back over with the others. "He could be tough." Cheri insisted. "I mean, what if he is the real Tatamo?"

"That's not possible." Trunks said shaking his head. "He'd be even older than Master Roshi then, and you know what he looks like!"

"Piccolo's old too." Cheri interjected. "What's so much more impossible about him being Tatamo than people being revived from the dead or traveling through time?"

"She's got you there, Trunks." Goten said grinning.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, we can take him. It's my dad, Gohan, Hotaru, and Videl I'm worried about." Trunks said. "Even grandpa's really strong. I don't know how powerful Gainin and Mijima are but mom told me they were stronger than my dad seven years ago..."

"Well, we've got the advantage of surprise." Cheri said.

"Some of you do." said Sakura, crossing her arms. "I don't, they know what I can do."

"Not everything." her sister said, looking up at her. "Mommy doesn't know you can use the Kinryoku while transformed yet."

Sakura nodded. "True, but that's still not even enough power to beat an untransformed Gohan." she said with a sigh. "And Trunks' Grandpa is even stronger than that. I can't win that match..."

"The best bet for all of us is a fast rush, take them by surprise." Cheri said. "We can win this if we don't let the grown-ups transform."

"Right!" Trunks said with a nod. "That's what we have to do. We've all been preparing for this chance for a while now, they don't know what we can do and that's what's going to let us win!"

"Right!" they all cheered in unison.

Off near the doors out into the Battle Pit Vegeta stood leaning back against the wall, eyes closed, arms crossed. He was keeping his senses trained on the others in the room, all at once, as he evaluated each of them. He knew Gohan would be his main challenge in this tournament. 

Though Vegeta's mind was still having trouble accepting that he'd surpassed his own father so much, he'd never expected anyone to be more of a challenge than him, or to be so much stronger than his father that he could beat him as easily as his father could defeat a Third Class Soldier. Of course, had he not reached Super Sai-jin that wouldn't be the case. In that regard his father was still the greatest. 

Even after all he'd been through, all the training he'd endured preparing first for Frieza and then for the Androids back on Earth, he was still outclassed by his father while in base. Outclassed enough that he'd not stand a chance. It irked him some, that he'd not become as powerful as his ancestors. Reduced capacity or not, he was still royalty. The King now, in fact. It was one thing he was going to see to correcting when he started to train his son.

By all rights he should have begun Trunks' training already. It should have started as soon as the boy was old enough to throw a punch. But first the Androids and then this Sennari business had put a hold on tradition. Well, this tournament was going to mark the start of a recess in the work he'd been doing over the years. A three month break from campaigning and organizing for the Sennari's formation. He'd take that time to make up for the time lost in Trunks training. 

And he'd use this tournament as a means to gauge just how good his son was. He'd seen the young Prince watching him train a few times. He'd also seen him sparring with the other children on more than one occasion, as well as with several of the stronger adults around the palace. Seeing how good Trunks was currently would give him a good idea of just how determined the boy was, and give him an idea of the child's innate ability to learn combat skills.

But first things first. Based on the order listing his most challenging fight before Gohan in the Semi-finals looked as though it would be his first fight, against Hotaru. He wasn't sure how strong she'd become but he doubted he she was anywhere near his power. She'd proven, several times over the years, that she was as tenacious and skilled as any Sai-jin, but there were gulfs that skill and determination couldn't cross.

Still, it had been a while since he'd had a good fight. She'd likely be a decent challenge so long as he didn't use his full Super Sai-jin powers. It'd be a nice workout for him at any rate, and no doubt the crowds would enjoy it too.

He'd watch Gohan's fights closely, see how much power the boy had gained. He knew the boy had trained over the years but didn't know how extensively. He had pushed himself hard as he could but had had trouble getting away from his duties to train. Now he understood why his father's power had held almost steady over the years while he was king. There just wasn't much time for improvement. If it hadn't been for the fact that he could differ royal matters to Bulma he doubted he'd have ever had time to train.

He was interested in the unknown Sai-jin in the room, too. He didn't much appreciate someone using Tatamo's name, but he did know that the fighter had skill. He'd been in one of the tougher prelim blocks and still made it through, apparently without even trying. He'd downed every opponent in just one hit, one of which had had a power greater than three hundred thousand. That meant that he had to be at least four hundred and fifty thousand, at the bare minimum.

It was true, the average Sai-jin power was going up. The number of Sai-jins greater than 100,000 had increased from around six hundred to over thirty-five hundred in the last twenty years. There had already been talk of 're-drawing the lines', so to speak, for the classes. Upping the levels needed to be of a certain class. No doubt they'd be doing that soon, too. If not then they'd run out of Third Class Soldiers in another ten to twenty years, the way things were going now. Still, having such a high ranking Sai-jin that was completely unknown was unusual and warranted monitoring. 


	7. Off to a Shaky Start

Chapter Seven - Off to a Shaky Start

The Arena wasn't a small structure by any means. Large didn't even come close to fitting. Enormous even seemed understated. From the north wall to the south was five miles. It was four miles from the east wall to the west. And the entire thing stood three hundred feet tall. The Battle Pit, the portion of the Arena where the fights would occur, took up the middle of the structure. Four miles long, north to south, and three miles wide, east to west, leaving a mile wide ring around it.

The stands stretched up steeply starting a hundred feet above the ground and going up the full two hundred to the top. The massive ammount of space under and behind the stands was reserved for other needed things. Bathrooms, concession stands, security posts, hallways, gift shops, and even games to entertain spectators before, between, and after the day's fights. And, of course, the building's systems. Air conditioning, power cables, relay units for the cameras, security cameras, and power monitors that constantly scanned the halls for anything unusual.

Unusual consisted of building or fluctuating Ki from an individual, lack of Ki from an individual, specific waveform signatures, and unknown energy patterns. Building or fluxing energy could denote either a coming attack or an agitated or highly nervous individual. Lack of Ki would most likely mean a machine which could house all kinds of dangers, including bombs that could cause major damage to the building and possibly kill a lot of the civilians present.

As for specific waveform signatures, there were still several dozen known dissidents within the Sai-jin population alone. Not to mention the hundreds that existed on other planets. Their waveform signatures, the distinct pattern of their Ki output, had been plugged into the system's databanks. If they entered the building they'd be recognized by their energy patterns and security would descend on them in seconds.

The system was even able to read more than just Ki energy. Nearly a hundred different energy types had been programmed into the system. In most cases it couldn't read any kind of level from these energies, just detect their presence, but for a few it was possible to read amounts. Transal energy, Compaq waves, Optigyd energy, Univar energy, Anatoma waves, and even Proton waves, the energy that Mijima and Gainin possessed. All thanks to hundreds of hours spent by Bulma pouring over a computer terminal over the last seven years.

All of this information was fed into the Control Box which was located in the middle of the North Wall right below the stands. It had windows looking out into the Battle Pit so those on duty could watch the fights to. If it weren't for Vadora being in the tournament she'd be one of those on duty in the Box. However, with her participating in the fights that left the head of Arena Security, Mellona, in charge.

Right now Mellona was staring at three readings she didn't particularly care for. One was a Transal energy reading of about fifty though slowly increasing. It was originating from the space down below where the Erido generators were located. She'd sent a team to investigate but they'd reported finding nothing. Her best guess was that whatever was causing the Transal energy to appear was what had been draining the energy from the generators previously.

The other two readings were far more disconcerting. The one was a waveform signature recognition match for an alien named Mazda. A man who was very outspoken about not wanting his world, Sedana, to join the Sennari. He, like a number of people formally under the rule of Frieza, Cold, or Cooler, distrusted the large and sprawling Sai-jin Empire and believed the Sennari was merely a ploy to have the races lower their defenses so the Sai-jins could take the galaxy in one quick swoop without resistance.

Mazda hadn't done anything drastic, yet. Simply kept spouting his speeches of remaining independent from street corners and rooftops to anyone who would listen. Just to be safe, though, Mellona had dispatched an undercover security guard to keep an eye on him. If he did anything suspicious, or went somewhere he shouldn't, the guard would detain him.

The third reading was, by far, the most troubling. It wasn't exactly a waveform signature match, but at the same time it was. The system could identify the race of a person by their waveform signature so long as five or so members of their race had previously been entered into the database. The larger the compilation of energies the better the chance of an accurate reading. Mellona was hoping this one wasn't accurate. Otherwise, there was a Changeling in the Arena.

Sighing deeply she looked over to the tracking system screen. She'd sent a guard out to investigate this as well. The power reading was small, only two hundred, but Changelings knew Ki suppression so there was no telling just how powerful this one could be. The Changelings were one race in the galaxy that the Sai-jins and the forming Sennari hadn't bothered to contact. Beyond not knowing what reception they'd receive from the Changelings themselves they knew that the Sennari would get no where fast if it was associated with them.

Her investigating guard was nearing the Changeling's location now. It had apparently taken a seat in the stands, about three rows back from the front and directly over the V.I.P. Box that sat in the middle of the South Wall. The alien's location made her even more nervous. The Queen and her friends were in the V.I.P. Box.

"Mellona, do you read?" came a male voice through the scouter she wore.

"Yeah, I'm here Rapin." she said, leaning back into her chair. "Do you have a visual?"

"I have a visual but negative confirmation. The person is covered, heavily."

"Covered?"

"White cloak, hood pulled up, and some sort of reflective face mask, I think." came the reply. "I can't get the best of looks."

Mellona sighed. "What about basic physicals?"

"Subject did stand a moment ago, to let another spectator down the aisle. I'd say about four foot three. The cloak was flat so I don't think there was a tail, at least not a Changeling one. I can't really get a feel for the build, I don't know what's fabric and what's person."

Mellona pursed her lips. "Changeling females don't have tails, their physiology is considerably different than that of the males, more so than any other race." she said thoughtfully. "It could still just be an error but I'd feel better knowing for sure."

"Suggestions?" Rapin asked. Mellona heard a faint hint of fear in his voice. She didn't really blame him. He'd encountered Frieza once on another planet and, while not being injured himself, had witnessed the tyrant decimate an entire troop of Super Elites, ten people with powers over two hundred thousand each, without even so much as moving.

"Keep an eye on them. I'm going to check into this myself." she said before receiving a relieved confirmation of orders. She then differed command in the Box to her second in command and made her way out of the room. During this exchange there was a sharp, millisecond long, spike to the Transal reading down by the generator room from fifty to three hundred. But just as quickly as it appeared it was gone, and it went unnoticed by the preoccupied security personnel.

Meanwhile, in the V.I.P. Box beneath Rapin and the suspected Changeling, Bulma was sitting in one of the many soft plush chairs that could be found there. They were a stark contrast to the hard super plastic chairs that made up the bulk of the arena seating. Even the cushioned chairs that comprised the lowest five rows weren't as comfortable. 

While the others were all in their normal street clothes Bulma wasn't. One of the pitfalls of being royalty, you had to be dressed up for functions like this. She had on a light blue one-piece body suit, much looser than those worn by everyone else in the Arena as it was a dress type and not for combat. 

Over the body suit she had on her formal armor. It was purple with red trim to it and a sea green abdominal pad. This armor didn't have shoulder straps or even the padded fins of normal battle armors but solid armor fins that flared out to give her arms room to move. Finishing off her look she also had a pair of golden hoop earrings in. It wasn't the most comfortable of outfits but there wasn't much she could do about that.

The Queen wasn't the only one taking advantage of the room's comfortable chairs. Marron had lain down on hers and was currently sleeping. Roshi had picked out one near the window into the Battle Pit and was currently observing the crowd through a pair of binoculars, no doubt looking for the Nudians he'd heard where in the stands, since their race never wore clothes. Hercule was sitting directly to her left watching a small hand held screen turned to one of Planet Vegeta's local TV stations.

The Ox King had to have a chair brought in for him, none of the normal ones were large enough, but was now sitting two seats over on Bulma's right. Between them sat Chi-Chi. The entire non competing collection of friends, minus Chaotzu, who hadn't been feeling well. The group would grow as the day passed, the others would be coming to join them in the V.I.P. Box as they lost their fights. Or won them, even. Since only the first round of matches was to be held today the fighters were free to leave if they wished after their fight ended.

"Still an hour and a half before the first match." Bulma said, glancing up at the clock on the wall. Turning to look over to her friend she saw the woman fiddling with the metallic bracelet she wore. It was the only thing that kept the woman from being crushed by the gravity. Hercule, Ox King, Roshi, and Marron all had one of the devices on as well. Bulma hadn't had need of them for almost six years. "Having problems with it?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's fine." Chi-Chi said. "I'm just not used to it yet."

"Don't worry, before long you'll forget it's even there." she said. Of those wearing them Chi-Chi's was set the second lowest. Both Marron and Ox King were sent to 10, completely negating the planet's gravity to Earth levels. Chi-Chi's was at 8, a setting she'd put it to herself after fidgeting with it for a few hours shortly after arriving. She insisted it was fine that way, though she'd been a bit sluggish at first. The purple haired woman suspected her friend had done it to make up for the fact she'd be missing her morning exercises during the stay at the palace.

As for Roshi. Roshi's was set to three, last Bulma saw. She wasn't sure what it was at now, he kept changing it. He'd started with it off, had turned it up to five a few hours later, and then down to two, up to five again, then down to three. She figured he didn't want to admit that she could take the gravity while he couldn't, even if she was stronger than him these days.

Which she still had trouble processing. She hadn't expected the gravity to have such an effect on her but not only was she completely adapted to it now but she was exceptionally more powerful than she had been when she'd first started getting used to it. Tangerie and Mango had only intended to get her up to basic flying strength but that training, coupled with the gravity and her own workout routine, had pushed her power up considerably. Enough now that she was noticeably stronger than the aged Master. Though her skill in a fight was barely passable.

Her musings were broken a moment later as the com station by the door beeped. Wondering who could be trying to contact them and why she made her wave over to the station. "Bulma here."

"Queen Bulma, it's Mellona. Is everything ok there?"

Bulma narrowed her eyes slightly. Mellona's voice had a hint of worry in it. "Everything's fine, why?"

"Well... I don't mean to worry you ma'am but... it is possible there is a Changeling almost directly above you." the Sai-jin said. "We got a waveform signature match for the race but have yet to make visual confirmation. It could be nothing but... has your security shown up yet?"

"No, they haven't... which is odd, they're usually where I'm going before I get there."

"Yaam and Kurat were the ones assigned, correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll put a check in and see if I can find them." Mellona said. She'd covered most of the more than five miles from the Control Box to Rapin's location thanks to the Turbo Runners, little lifts that ran up, down, left, and right, and at rather good speeds. As the Runner she was riding slowed to make a turn around the corner into the south section of the arena she cued into the com network and contacted the duty officer on shift in the Palace. 

"Rowan, palace operations." came the bored female voiced greeting.

"This is Mellona, head of Arena security." Mellona said quickly, wishing the Runner was faster. "Do you have a position on Yaam and Kurat? They should be guarding the Queen in the V.I.P. Box but she's not seen them."

"One moment please." came the reply. Mellona knew what the other woman was doing, she was accessing the GPS in the scouters of the two Sai-jins in question. "Hmm, this is odd..."

"What is it?" Mellona asked, a sinking feeling starting to form in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm not getting a signal from either soldier." Rowan said. "Hold on, I'll check the records." There was silence again for several moments and, by the time the voice came back, the Runner had stopped and Mellona was moving down the hall toward Rapin. "Records show them last down in the N4SC6 corridor heading toward the staff cafeteria."

"Understood." Mellona said quickly cutting that link and patching in to the guard she had posted in that area. "This is Commander Mellona, go check the staff cafeteria for Yaam and Kurat." she ordered, cutting off the opening response from the guard. "If you find them, tell them to get their asses to the V.I.P. Box, now, before I skin them. Let me know after you check the room out."

"Yes Ma'am."

By now she was only a few steps behind Rapin. Walking up to him she looked out into the stands. With an hour and fifteen minutes to go still they weren't very full yet and it was easy to spy the snow white cloak in the seats. "That our possible?"

"Yeah." Rapin said with a nod.

"Alright, you stay put." she said walking off. She steeled her nerves as she neared the other and took a deep breath as she turned down that aisle. The person in question turned to look at her as she neared. They did indeed have a mirrored face mask on hiding their face. They also had a good ammount of clothing on too, everything was covered by, at least, one layer, sometimes two or three. "Excuse me, could you come with me please?" she asked, managing to keep her voice even and free of the nervousness she felt.

"Is there something wrong?" a muffled voice asked. It was clearly female and, even through the distortion of the mask, had a sweet and silky quality too it. The kind of voice you'd expect of a famous movie star or singer or something. That voice calmed Mellona a bit, it certainly didn't sound like a threatening or dangerous voice.

"Just come with me please." she pressed.

The figure remained motionless for a moment before standing and bowing slightly to her to show compliance. She lead the white clothed woman back down the aisle and then up to and passed where Rapin stood, the other Sai-jin falling into line behind the two women without a word. It was only a few minutes walk to the closest security room and Mellona locked the door behind her. The three of them were now perfectly clear of being watched or overheard.

"I'd like to apologize first." Mellona said. "But our scanners picked up something we need to look into. Could you remove your mask please."

There was a tense moment of silence as no one moved or spoke. The two Sai-jins were both still on edge and quite nervous. Then, finally, the cloaked woman sighed. "I should have guessed this guise wouldn't work. You guys are really on the ball here." she said as she reached up. She moved the hood of the cloak back first and then took hold of the bottom of the mirrored face mask and lifted it up and off giving the two Sai-jins a clear look at her.

Rapin's heart leapt up into his throat and he swallowed, trying to force it down. Mellona visibly tensed, the sinking feeling in her stomach getting worse. The heavily cloaked woman was, clearly, a Changeling. She had strips of deep purple skin that ran from directly below her eyes all the way down her face, her neck, and then down under the cloak she wore. Her skin elsewhere was white, as pale white as Frieza had been in his fourth form, and that of the cloak she wore.

Atop her head was the glistening glass like plate that shielded the crown of a Changeling's head. While Frieza's had been purple, and Cooler's blue, hers was a bright red. Mellona also noted the stubs of horns on the sides of her head. The almost horizontal protrusions that should have been there were not, the black projections ended shortly after exiting her head. The ends were smoothed over, filed into neat perfection, but there were still the tell-tale scars on the bone indicating that the horns had been broken off.

She also noted something quite unexpected in the woman's black eyes. A tinge of fear. It caught the Sai-jin woman off guard for a moment, as did the Changeling's next words. "You don't need to be afraid of me." she said simply. "I mean neither you, nor your efforts here, any harm."

"Why are you here then?" Mellona asked, her voice catching a bit.

"Looking for someone." she said after a moment. "Another Changeling, one we only learned about ourselves only two years ago."

"What?" Rapin asked.

The woman was about to begin her explanation when Mellona raised her hand to silence her. The guard she'd sent to locate Bulma's guards was contacting her. "Did you find them?"

"Yes ma'am. But..."

"But what?" Mellona asked, her eyes going to the Changeling before her.

"They're dead, ma'am. Ki blasts through the chest. Them and the entire staff in the cafeteria."

Mellona closed her eyes. "How many?"

"Thirteen."

"Understood. Return to your post and keep your eyes open."

"Yes ma'am."

Mellona thumbed her scouter's controls and changed frequencies. "General Kele, it's Mellona, head of Arena Security. We have a breech."

"Come again?" came the gruff voice of the head of Palace Security, disbelief in his voice.

"I don't have time to explain. I want the first through third divisions down here as back-up security ASAP and I want you guarding the Queen... her assigned guards are already dead."

"By the Kais." Kele said in shock. "I'm on it ma'am, we'll be there in ten minutes."

"Understood." Mellona said, ending that transmission. She then turned to the other Sai-jin. "Rapin, I want you to guard the Queen until Kele arrives."

"On it Commander." he said bowing quickly and then leaving.

Mellona then turned her eyes back to the Changeling. Reaching up she thumbed her scouter again. "Yes, is this Fighter Control? Good. I need you to find the King, tell him there's a code Blue Alpha 7 and he can find me in Security Room S9." 


	8. The New Changeling Empire

Chapter Eight - The New Changeling Empire 

Piccolo had made his way from the Sai-jin toward the others again at first but then spied the only other Namek in the tournament. Eskarga. Curiosity getting the better of him he'd approached the Namek and asked about why Shale and Torg, both having been revived during the fight against Frieza, hadn't entered into the tournament. Eskarga's answer had been a little unsettling. Apparently Azura had a feeling that something was off and has asked the two powerful Nameks to remain behind.

Now Piccolo was even more curious as to Tatamo's presence. He knew Dende had been sensing something for few months now as well. At least two Guardian's felt something was wrong and one of them had spoken to a third who was now in the midst of the strongest fighters in the galaxy. The powerful warrior had trouble believing this was all just coincidence. With this drifting through his mind he cursed whatever gods were listening under his breath. It was starting to feel like the cosmos themselves were against the formation of the Sennari. Or at least, a simple and hassle free formation.

He'd been just passing by Vegeta's location when one of the Arena's staff had reached the Royal. He was close enough that he'd overhead their whispered conversation. "Message from Mellona, sir. Code Blue Alpha 7."

"Blue Alpha 7?!" Vegeta repeated in shock. Piccolo recognized the code as well. Intruder detected, casualties already resulting, and a possible compromise to royal security. There was only one place there was royal security within the Arena, around Bulma. Piccolo saw the royal stiffen up for a moment before relaxing again and following the other man out of the room.

Back in security room S9 Mellona had the Changeling take a seat at the table in the room. Then she'd taken up a position by the door to wait for the King. While she did she patched in to the Control Box for an update. Nothing had changed. The Transal energy reading had gone up from 50 to 50.01 and Mazda had taken a seat in the stands. That was it.

And so she waited the next several minutes in silence until the door finally opened and King Vegeta entered the room. Vegeta stiffened visibly as he spied the Changeling. But his step never faltered, he entered the room and the door hissed shut behind him. "So, what's going on?" Vegeta asked, his eyes still locked on the Changeling though his head was turned in Mellona's direction.

"We had a waveform signature reading of a Changeling so I and Rapin investigated." Mellona said. "While en route I contacted the Queen and learned that Yaam and Kurat hadn't reported to her yet. The guard I sent to locate them in the staff cafeteria found them, and the rest of the staff there, dead." Both Sai-jins saw a look of shock and fear flash through the Changeling's eyes for a moment but she collected herself quickly enough.

"Rapin's standing guard over the Queen currently, I've already called in Kele to take his position and the first through third divisions to step up security. Just to be safe." She then motioned to the other woman. "When I approached her in the stands she came willingly, I've not had any resistance at all."

Vegeta nodded and moved toward her. "Who are you and why are you on my planet?" he demanded.

"My name is Nova." she said after a moment. "My troops and I tracked another Changeling here, one we have been after since we learned of his existence two years ago. I thought it best that I come down alone so I left the others in our ship outside the system."

"Your troops?" Vegeta asked, eyes narrowing.

"My personal guard." she explained. "I am the new Queen of the Changeling race."

"So, who was it you supposedly followed?"

"His name is Kuriiza. He is, apparently, Frieza's son."

"Frieza's... WHAT!?" Vegeta cried, his arms uncrossing for the first time since he arrived.

Nova nodded her head once. "That was our reaction as well. We'd not known of any children either. He was apparently being raised on another planet under his mother's care. Two years ago we learned of his existence when he landed on one of the few colony planets we still had and took out the command structure I had established. He's not come out of hiding fully yet, but he's been working to undermine our new government."

She sighed. "We don't even know how powerful he is. We've only gotten one reading so far, during his first attack. That was 100,000 even. We are trying to rebuild after finally coming out from under thousands of years of nearly psychotic leadership. First Blizard's family's rule and then the Cold family. So we've kept this as quiet as possible. When we realized he was coming here..."

Vegeta nodded. Having a Changeling around, especially one related to Frieza, at this juncture was not a pleasant thought. "Mellona, any other Changeling waveform signatures detected?"

"No sir, we only picked up the one."

Turning back to Nova he spoke to her again. "Is this Kuriiza, if he truly exists, alone?"

"No. We know of two others who have been spotted with him. An Anubian named Jackal and someone of an unknown race apparently named Tox. Power of around 70,000."

Vegeta looked back to Mellona again but the woman was already a step ahead of him and talking with those in the Box. A moment later she nodded and looked toward him again. "There are a hundred Anubian's here but only one of them is outside general population areas. The D4UU2 hall, I've already got a team going there. There are two unknown waveform signatures in the building as well. One by the south exit and another by the north. I've got men going to those locations as well."

"Good. I intend to get to the bottom of this before the fights start." Vegeta said, glancing at the time on the wall clock. Only fifty minutes left until the first match.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

"I wonder where father's going?" Trunks wondered as he watched him leave with the other Sai-jin. "He looks like something's bugging him."

"Probably just a system glitch." Sakura said. "Didn't your mom say things were still glitchy?"

Trunks nodded but he didn't think that was it. He'd never seen that look on his father's face before, no matter how big a problem had been. And he'd seen the royal face a lot of them the last couple years with his Sennari work. Still, there was nothing he could do. The fights would start soon and he didn't want to risk missing his first match.

"So, working on battle plans?" Videl asked walking over to the group.

"Yep!" Goten cheered. "We're going to win this tournament! We've got secrets!"

"Goten!" Cheri cried, slapping the back of his head. "The point of a secret is not to tell!"

"Oops, sorry!" the boy grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

Videl laughed and shook her head as she ruffled Goten's hair. "Well, give it your all. You never know, you really could win." Walking from the kids she made her way over to where Hotaru stood with Kavar and the other Tanarian's who'd made it into the tournament. "Hey Hotaru."

"Hi Videl." the alien Queen said smiling. "Nervous at all?"

"A little. I'm almost positive I can take Gohan but I'm not sure..."

Hotaru shrugged. "Try not to think about it so much." she said. "If you focus on the negative it'll affect your performance out there. Stay positive, anything can happen during a match."

"Yeah. So, what about you? Worried about fighting Vegeta in the first round?"

Hotaru shrugged again. "Like I said, anything can happen."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Kai Plane

Two figures stood in the midst of a wide open grass field. There was a large and elegant palace some distance away, just shy of the horizon. But there was nothing but tall grass, rocks, a few trees, and some small hills around the two figures. A strong breeze was blowing across the plain, the grass nearly bent over flat in the wind.

The figures were similar and yet quite different in appearance. The one was tall, he was at least seven foot. He had long white hair that went about half way down his back, black eyes, and his skin was a reddish-pink. He wore yellow boots, a blue shirt, blue pants, and a red vest with yellow trim over that. He had an orange belt tied about his waist, the excess cloth hanging down to his ankles. Lastly he had on a pair of earrings.

The other was considerably shorter, only about five foot tall. She had spiky white hair that reached down to her waist, black eyes, and peach colored skin. Her boots were yellow as well, her shirt and pants pink, and her vest red with yellow trim. An orange belt was tied about her waist, the excess cloth hanging down to her ankles. She, too, had on a pair of earrings.

"I don't like this." the man said after a moment. The two had been drawn out from the palace by a growing feeling that something wasn't right. Just a few moments ago the wind had suddenly picked up but it felt more as though something was pulling at them than pushing. Like the wind wasn't really wind but suction.

"Nor do I, Kibito." replied his companion. Her normally cheery expression replaced by one of concern. "Some evil is stirring out there..." She turned her eyes skyward and looked off passed the clouds and numerous moons at some place far in the distance. "Could this be connected to the tears that have formed?" she wondered.

Kibito glanced down at her. "If it is... then I fear what it is that is coming." he said. "To create tears between the planes takes extraordinary power."

The woman nodded. "Yes. Even more power than I possess. That is what worries me the most." She lowered her gaze from the sky and cast a look about her. The wind, or suction, or whatever it was was fading now. Whatever was coming, it wasn't here yet. "Come on Kibito, I want to look around, see if we can find the source of this." To this the man nodded and then both vanished.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena, Security Room S9

Mellona's eyes snapped open as the sounds came through the ear piece of her scouter. Reaching up she pressed her hand against it to hold it closer. "Team 3, repeat that?" she ordered catching the attention of the other two.

"We have a hostage situation at the South Gate." came the voice again saying what it had before. Mellona had hoped she'd heard wrong. "The unknown saw us coming, must have realized we were on to him, he grabbed a near-by spectator. Hostage power reading of 147. Unknown's power has climbed up to and stabilized at 79,614."

Mellona cursed and then patched in to the other two teams. "Team 1, status?"

"Team 1 here. We've found the Anubian. He's in the barrier generator room." came a whispered reply. "Looks like he's trying to do something to the generator... must not know about the issues we've been having."

"Understood. Can you take him?"

"No problem ma'am."

"Do it."

There was silence for a second, and then a minor explosion through the scouter. The team leader's voice came back a second later. "He's out cold, never even saw us coming."

"Take him to the detainment area and secure him in a cell."

"Understood."

"Team 2, what's your status?"

"Team 2 here. We've got a visual on our unknown. He's facing away from us, hasn't seen us."

Mellona stood in thought. Nova only mentioned two but it was possible this third was connected as well. "Can you take him down quietly?"

"It's too crowded." came the reply. "Too dangerous."

Mellona sighed. "Understood. Keep an eye on him." She then turned her gaze to the others. "We caught the Anubian in the barrier generator room. The unknown at the South Gate has taken a hostage, the one at the North Gate is being watched."

"A hostage!?" Vegeta growled. Mellona nodded and with that the King walked toward the door. As it hissed open he glanced back into the room. "Come with me." he ordered, his eyes on Nova. The Changeling hesitated only a moment and then quickly stood and donned her disguise again. And then the three of them were moving through the halls.

It only took them a couple moments to reach the main south lobby. The spectators had formed a ring around the man, his hostage, and the five security guards. As Vegeta emerged from the crowd the unknown's blue face drained of color. He was dressed in a similar fashion to Nova, only no hood or mask and his cape, gloves, and boots, were purple.

"I would release him, now." Vegeta growled. He saw the alien shaking visibly and realized he was scared. Probably too scared to move. The Sai-jin royal frowned and then vanished. He re-appeared a second later with his elbow smashed into the alien's neck. His hands twitched and he fell over, releasing the hostage on the way down.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Detainment Area

Vegeta glanced at the wall clock. Still fifteen minutes left until the first matches. He smirked. The three alien's were currnetly sealed away inside barrier cells. As none of them even surpassed eighty thousand, including the Anubian even when transformed, there'd be no chance of them escaping.

After having caught the unknown alien at the South Gate he'd gone to the North Gate and captured the other without even being seen. Now all three of them were awake and locked up. Vegeta, Nova, and Mellona stood outside their cells trying to get answers. All with time to spare. "What were you doing at the generator?" Vegeta demanded again.

Once again, silence. The King scowled but before he could speak again a muffled voice interrupted him. "I think I know." He turned and looked back at Nova where she was looking over the equipment confiscated from the aliens. "This was stolen from one of our colony worlds." she said, holding up a small device. "Most of this was."

The three aliens turned their attentions toward the cloaked woman now, for the first time. She reached up with her free hand and removed her mask and hood once more and all three of them gasped in obvious shock. It didn't go unnoticed by the Changeling. "Didn't think I'd follow you here, did you?" she asked, looking at them. "I'm not a fool, letting Kuriiza run rampant in the galaxy, especially on Planet Vegeta, could only bring disaster. I'll do whatever it takes to stop him and finally put an end to the Cold Family."

"Watch your tongue!" one of the blue aliens hissed. "Kuriiza is the rightful ruler of this galaxy. He's still only a child and yet he is the strongest Changeling. In a few more years he'll surpass all others, including that pathetic 'Super Sai-jin'."

Vegeta smirked and then cracked up laughing. This drew all eyes back to him for a moment. It took a moment for him to calm down and, then, still smiling, he spoke. "Tell me, what's the last news you've heard from the rest of the galaxy? Obviously you know about the tournament today, even the Sennari... but is that all? Do you know about the Androids that appeared on Earth? About Cell? Or, even, about what happened here when Cooler came?"

The three aliens just stared at him blankly and Nova shook her head no when Vegeta glanced toward her. "I didn't think so. Well, let's just put it this way. There's more than one Super Sai-jin now, all of whom are superior to the one that defeated Frieza. And that particular Sai-jin is dead, seven years now." He turned his attention back to Nova. "So, you were saying you know what they were up to?"

"I think so." she said. "This device is called an Imploder. It's a component used in our new engine designs. When attached to a generator or other power source it compresses the energy and then shoots it into the next compartment. If, however, it isn't attached to that compartment it's designed to not work. They've removed the safety just enough, though, that it'd activate but not expel the energy..."

"You mean, it'd just keep accumulating compacted energy?" Mellona asked, understanding now what the three had hoped to do.

Nova nodded. "Until it exceeded capacity, at which point it'd cause feedback with the generator and..."

"Boom." Vegeta said softly, trying to think out how much damage that would have caused. He soon realized the entire arena would have gone up and, most likely, only his father and Piccolo would have survived unprepared for the explosion. "Well, even if we hadn't caught them it wouldn't have worked anyway." he said, smirking. "We've had power issues, the generator's not been putting out any energy for weeks. Everything's running off the back-ups.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I do have a tournament to get back to. Mellona, head back to the Control Box and keep an eye on things. And send someone here to find out where Kuriiza's hiding." He then turned to Nova for a moment and stood in thought. He couldn't send her out into the stands, too risky. And it appeared that, for the first time in history, he was on the same said as a Changeling. No reason to start off on a bad foot with the new ruler of the Changelings.

"I'll take you to the V.I.P. Box." he said. "Less chance of causing a panic if you're out of sight."

She bowed and put her disguise back on. With that done the three of them departed.


	9. Let the Games Begin!

Chapter Nine - Let the Games Begin!

Vegeta had handled the introductions between Nova and the others in the V.I.P. Box. Bulma had been a little scared at first, Vegeta had seen it in her eyes, but as soon as the Changeling had spoken that had faded away. His mate was a good judge of people and she wasn't concerned anymore so neither was he. That done he left and made his way back to the competitors area.

Meanwhile, in the V.I.P. Box Roshi had diverted his attention to the new arrival. The fact she appeared to be stripping was what had drawn his attention. She'd removed the cloak and was pulling off a few other layers of clothes. As the layers peeled away his interest grew, she definitely had a figure that interested him. Though, he was a bit disappointed that she stopped before removing everything. She still had on a powder blue dress that showed the tops of her breasts and her lower legs. It was still a sight Roshi liked but he'd have preferred more.

Knowing the matches would be starting soon he moved from his crowd viewing seat to sit with the others. He'd taken the seat beside the Changeling who had sat down beside Hercule. "So, what's going on?" Bulma asked leaning forward a little to look across at Nova. "I mean, I know my guards were late... and then first Rapin and then Kele were posted as new guards. Then you're brought here..."

Nova sighed. "It's a bit of a long story. Three aliens working with one of us who's out to take down the new Changeling Empire we've only just formed... killed your guards and a few others."

"Oh no..."

"They've been captured. All except the Changeling they were working for." Nova said. "I'm here because I've been chasing him for two years now." She stopped as a voice sounded through the speakers outside in the arena and the ones in the room. The numerous video screens, the large ones in the room and the massive ones scattered through out the Arena, came to life to display an orange furred alien. Apparently it was time to begin as he was welcoming everyone and calling for the first two competitors.

"When I realized he was coming here." she continued. "I figured he was intent on disrupting the tournament and stopping the Sennari's formation. We're not sure how powerful he is at the moment, but he's doing what he can to keep everyone off balance for when he feels ready to make his move and reclaim his family's empire."

"Reclaim... his family's..." Bulma said softly. "Wait... does that mean he's related to...?"

Nova nodded. "He is the son of Frieza." she said as the first match got underway. She saw the look on Bulma's face and shook her head. "I don't think he's a major threat though, not like the rest of his family was. He's not as strong as them." /At least, I don't think so./ she thought, but thought it'd be better to keep that idea to herself.

Bulma nodded, and then... "Um, if you don't mind my asking..." she began, looking toward the small Changeling. "What happened to your horns?"

Nova sighed. "It's a reminder of what we've finally escaped from." she said, one hand reaching up and gently brushing the nubs that were all that remained of her horns.

"What do you mean?" Hercule asked.

"Just about a hundred years ago I was working in Cold's palace back on our homeworld, Henka." she explained. "One of about two hundred slaves that worked there. In a way, I was one of the lucky ones, born into that life. I didn't know there was anything else for the longest time. But I learned. And as I did I grew to hate Cold and his sons.

"Eventually... I made the mistake of letting them know this, an accidental outburst in Cold's throne room. To 'put me in my place' I was beaten. I can't remember it beyond the first blow anymore, but at some point my horns were broken off."

Bulma's eyes had slowly widened during Nova's story. "Oh, that's horrible..."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Control Box

Mellona took her seat at the command post again. On the return trip to the control box she'd sent orders out for five interrogators to report to detainment. As she sat she looked over all the data on her screens. The Transal energy was now up to 50.11, Mazda was still in the same location, and Nova was still the only Changeling in the Arena. She quickly added the alien Queen's waveform pattern to the database and named it. It'd be less unnerving to see 'Nova' on the screen than 'Changeling'.

Just as she looked up from her monitors at the battle that had already been going by the time she'd gotten back to the Control Box a blinding explosion filled the window and the TV screens in the room. She had to bring her arm up to shield her eyes from the glare. When it faded away she glanced at the screen and saw the large Dubibub floating high in the sky panting, a large crater in the ground below him with Eskarga standing dead center in it. His arms were pointed toward the other alien, smoke drifting off his palms.

"Damn, I missed it..." Mellona muttered, realizing the exchange that had just occurred must have been quite impressive. The crowds were cheering and so were a few of those with her in the Box.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

Vegeta had taken his time on the walk from the Runner to the competitors area. His mind was busy mulling over thoughts he couldn't believe he was thinking. He was actually considering an alliance with the Changelings. Not currently, no. That would be the death of the Sennari. But, in time, he believed it could be possible. Nova had as much as said that they were rebuilding. Not just from the damage he, his son and son's wife from the future, and Kakkarotto had done, but from the rules of the Cold and Blizard families themselves.

If anything was indicative of change, that was. The Changelings themselves had been just as oppressed as the rest of the galaxy that they'd controlled. More so, possibly, since they would have been seen as the greatest threat. Vegeta got the impression that Nova was proof of that. He doubted her horns had simply fallen off, after all. He'd have to inquire about that sometime...

As he stepped into the room he noticed the screens where all bright white. The glare was fading now, though, and by the time he'd gone three steps it was gone. He watched as Dubibub wavered in the air and then suddenly the Namek shot up and slammed a fist into the large alien's stomach. Dubibub's mouth gaped open... and then his eyes closed and he fell to the ground.

"That was..." Videl said, blinking. "Hey, Piccolo, how did he do that?"

The other Namek shook his head. "I haven't got a clue..."

Vegeta wasn't sure what they were talking about but he didn't really care. He could just watch it tonight after the tournament was over for the day. As Eskarga came back in and the unconscious Dubibub was hauled off the announcer called for the next match. Cheri Vs. Kazuki. This would be a fast match.

Everyone watched the screens as the two faced off. The announcer called a start to the fight and Cheri shot off without a second thought. The seven year old was faster than Kazuki could see and a second later he was laying face first on the ground and unconscious. And Cheri was walking back to the competitors area. Vegeta smirked at the smile on her face. He'd seen that smile before, Vadora wore it every time she won a fight.

While the audience absorbed the suddenness of the second fight's conclusion the third match was called. Tatamo Vs. Mijima. This was the main reason Vegeta had wanted to be finished chasing Kuriiza's moronic goons before the fights started. He knew this fight would come up quick and he wanted to see it. He seriously doubted the Sai-jin would last long but it would give him an idea of just how good the fighter was.

A few moments later the two were squaring off out in the middle of the Battle Pit. "Mijima, isn't it?" Tatamo asked, slipping into a fighting stance. "You're a Cyborg, if I remember correctly..." Mijima merely cocked an eyebrow, a gesture he took as a yes, so he continued. "Hmm, this lack of Ki is annoying. No clue how strong you are..."

"Well, I could go easy on you." she said smirking. "It wouldn't be much fun for the audience for you to go down in two seconds."

"No, I suppose not." he said, returning her smile.

"And besides, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill you."

Tatamo smirked. "Hey, that's my line."

She narrowed her eyes a little and pursed her lips but kept on smiling. It had been a while since she'd had this much fun in a fight and the match hadn't even started yet. And then the announcer called the start to the battle and she was on the move. Only at a fraction of her speed but still incredibly fast. Reaching her target in seconds she lashed out with a punch...

And it was caught! The woman's smile grew and she threw another punch with more speed and power. This one was dodged. Then she found a foot sailing toward the side of her head and moved to jump back but the Sai-jin had a solid grip on her hand. Her eyes widened in shock and then her arm shot up at the last second stopping his leg with a loud crack.

The two of them stood there looking at each other for a moment letting what just happened sink in. As it did, a look of shock crossed the Cyborg's face. Tatamo merely smiled. "Well, seems she wasn't exaggerating about your power. Guess I really should get out more... So, shall we continue?" and with that he vanished.

Mijima's eyes widened but she managed to duck a second later as her opponent's foot lashed out toward her head. The blow missed but the breeze ruffled her hair. And then she followed his lead and vanished as well. A second later a series of cracks and flashes illuminated the Battle Pit. Down in the competitors area several people were staring at the screens, mouths hanging open in shock.

Among them were Gohan, Videl, Raditz, Tien, Hotaru, and both Vegeta's. Tatamo's power had already shot up considerably and it was still climbing. A moment later the Sai-jin's power matched and surpassed Gohan's, a blue aura forming around him. Another crack came as his power stopped just short of the younger Vegeta's, Mijima's foot smashed into his face and driving him down into the ground.

As the dust settled Tatamo pulled himself back up onto his feet and brushed the dirt off of himself. He wasn't even looking up at where Mijima floated but at his hands as he cleaned himself off. Finally he looked up toward her and smiled. "Impressive. It's been a long time since I've had a good fight. A very long time indeed. Tell me, how much power did you put into that kick?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"About a quarter or so." she replied. She wasn't sure who this guy was but he was definitely stronger than she'd expected. And she had a feeling his power had only stopped increasing because of the blow she'd landed.

"My, that is impressive." he said, his eyes widening a bit. "Well then, looks like I can go all out against you after all. This should be fun." He shifted out of his relaxed stance and into one that was easily recognizable, he was going to power-up. The light blue aura that had already started to form grew brighter and thicker as he took a deep breath. And then he let it out in a loud cry, his aura exploded large and bright, the ground beneath his feet shattered, and wind rushed out across the open expanse of battle ground.

The entire arena shook violently as his power climbed, his blue aura licking up along his body like flame. The competitors watched the screens, watched him power-up, and watched the number showing his power level in the top left corner climb steadily. 6 million, 6.5 million, 8 million, 10 million, 13 million, 16 million, 20 million...

"What the hell!?" Vegeta cried, eyes going wide in disbelief. Still the numbers rose. 24 million, 27 million, 29 million, 31 million, 32 million, 33 million... 33,857,067. It stopped, the tremors stopped, his aura calmed down, the tension in his body faded, and his eyes opened and gazed up at Mijima once more.

The Cyborg was staring down at him in utter shock, her eyes and mouth as wide as those of Vegeta. Suddenly Tatamo vanished again. Mijima's eyes widened further but she recovered at the last second and turned just in time to block the kick that had been aimed at the back of her head. Tatamo didn't give her time to collect her thoughts though and instantly lashed out with a punch that connected with her stomach doubling her over. Slipping back a bit he spun and back handed her on the side of the head spinning her about.

Her mind cleared at last and she used the momentum to her advantage snapping out a kick into the Sai-jin's ribs. The blow knocked him back but he thrust an arm out firing a blast of blue energy at the woman. The Cyborg deflected it easily as she charged after him. He slipped around her first punch but the second cracked across his jaw and then her knee slammed into his gut.

"Who the hell... is he?" Vegeta said softly, still in shock, as Mijima landed a double fisted blow to Tatamo's back that drove him down into the ground. Piccolo glanced over to Vegeta and then back out at the fight. He'd figured Tatamo would be powerful, he'd had more than ten thousand years to train, but this was beyond what he'd expected. And then his mind remembered something he'd learned the day before when he'd spoken with Raditz and first heard of Tatamo. According to legend, he was also a Super Sai-jin!

The Namek's mind spun with this consideration. If Tatamo had mastered the transformation as Goku, Gohan, Videl, and Bardock had all managed to do then... he was a hundred times more powerful when transformed! Could that... could that even be possible!? Sai-jin or not, Guardian or not, he was still flesh and blood, still a living being. There were limits to what was possible. Or, at least, there should be.

"Mijima's still stronger." Gainin said after a moment. "By more than enough to outclass him if she goes to full strength."

"Still..." Sango said softly. "This is..."

"Absurd." Vegeta finished for her. 


	10. Grand Battle, Saijin against Cyborg

Chapter Ten - Grand Battle, Sai-jin against Cyborg

"My word!" Roshi cried as Tatamo's power-up came to an end. "His power... there's just no way!"

"What is it?" Bulma asked looking over to him. Of the talents she'd picked up over the last several years Ki sensing hadn't been one of them.

"He... he's stronger than Bardock was, as a Super Sai-jin, when the Androids first came!" the old Master cried in shock as the power level reading on the screen finally stopped increasing. "That's..."

"Amazing..." Nova breathed, her eyes locked on the power reading for the Sai-jin. This Sai-jin, who was not even a Super Sai-jin, was even stronger than Cold had been!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Competitors area

The others watched as the Sai-jin slipped around a punch from the blonde woman and then shot up into the sky leaving a trail of deep blue energy in his wake. The barriers around the battle area reached up a good two miles but he only climbed a few dozen yards before turning to face her again. Suddenly his position shifted, he moved into a side-ways angle, and his hands cupped together.

Vegeta's eyes widened further and he looked over to his father, the elder Sai-jin sharing in his expression of shock and confusion. "How could he know that attack?" Vegeta asked. His father shook his head. He didn't know how either. Only the royal family was ever taught how to use it. And yet, this Sai-jin was about to.

Back out in the pit Mijima wasn't about to wait for him and shot up toward him as his blue aura shrank away and filled the space between his hands. She was almost on him by the time he thrust his arms out at her. "Galick Gun!" he cried, the energy surging forward. The Cyborg saw it coming and dodged around to the right.

Tatamo smirked and gave a sudden jerk of his arms. Mijima's eyes widened and she turned to look behind her. Sure enough, her suspicions were correct. The attack had made a U-turn and was now surging up toward her! With a cry she thrust her arm down toward it and fired of a stream of golden energy driving the attack down into the ground. She then started to turn to find her opponent only to meet with his foot smashing into her face.

The blow drove her back a few feet but she recovered, dodged around his punch, and then grabbed his arm and surged down toward the ground. Still a few feet up she released him and pitched him down at the dirt below. Just before hitting the ground his arm shot out and he rebounded back onto his feet.

"You're a lot better than I'd expected." Mijima said, brushing a little dirt off her left arm. "But you still can't take my full strength."

Tatamo let took a deep breath and let it out as he floated up into the air until he was level with her ten feet above ground. "Well, you're partly right there." he said at last. "Like this I doubt I could take your full strength. So..." With that he lifted a leg and grabbed hold of one of the black boots he'd been wearing. With a quick tug it came off and he let it fall to the ground where it impacted with a loud thud and smashed out a hole. His second boot did the same.

Then he grabbed the bottom of his furred shirt and lifted it up off revealing a white tank-top he'd had on beneath it. The shirt then landed on the ground with a loud crash much like the boots. Next he pulled off the red wrist bands he'd been wearing and dropped those as well. Mijima watched as they also caused small craters to form and then looked back up at the Sai-jin who was now stretching.

She'd not expected him to be wearing weights, and she wasn't the only one. "Unbelievable." Gohan said as he felt the Sai-jin's power go up with each weight removed. By the time he was finished his power had climbed to just over 45 million. "You talked to him earlier Piccolo... who is he?"

This got the attention of Vegeta as well and he glanced over at the Namek as he waited on the other's response. "He is who he says he is, that's all." he said at last.

/Is who he says.../ Vegeta thought. Then his eyes snapped open wide. "Surely you don't mean that you think he really IS Tatamo?" he asked.

Piccolo smiled faintly. "That's exactly what I mean."

"But... Piccolo..." Videl said looking up at him. "He's been dead for ten thousand years..." When the Namek made no further comments everyone turned their attentions back to the screen.

/Could it... really be possible/ Vegeta wondered. /Wait... what if the legends are right but they got it wrong? What if it's not the Guardian Sai-jin powers that return when the Sai-jin race is in danger... what if it's Tatamo himself/ With this new possibility in his mind he began to wonder if, perhaps, Kuriiza was more of a threat than he'd given the Changeling credit for. And this man being Tatamo explained how he knew the Galick Gun. He invented the damned thing!

Back out in the Battle Pit Tatamo had finished up with his stretching and slipped into a fighting stance once more. "I never expected to ever get a challenge from someone that wasn't a Sai-jin." he said smiling. "Times change, I suppose." Mijima raised an eyebrow but readied for the next round of fighting as well. A moment later both of them vanished once again.

A series of thunderous cracks rang out through the stands as bright flashes flared up seemingly randomly. The fight was going far too fast for the average spectator to keep up with with just their eyes, but the monitors showed no signs of the same trouble. The two were moving back and forth, left and right, up and down, as the momentum of their attacks drove them through the air. Control of the battle kept slipping from one to the other as each found an opening in the other's defense and pushed in with an assault of their own.

Tatamo slipped under a punch from the Cyborg and then launched an uppercut into her stomach. As she doubled over his knee shot up into her face snapping her head back. His left arm shot out and his open palm slammed into her chest. As she was knocked backwards he spun around behind her jamming his knee into her back. Sliding back he turned a little as his other leg snapped out crashing into the side of her head.

Darting around in front of her again he threw a punch toward her face but it missed as she back flipped in the air. As she turned over her leg snapped out and her foot caught his chin with a crack. In a flash she was on him with a back hand to his face followed by an elbow to the same spot. Then a knee to the chest, a head butt, and a hard right hook that knocked the Sai-jin spinning and dropped him face first on the ground.

Thrusting her arm toward him she fired a blast of pink energy down toward him. He suddenly pushed off with his hands and launched himself up into the air, the energy blast sailing harmlessly under him and slamming into the ground. He spun around and lashed out with a kick but her arm came up and blocked it. She fired off a punch but he slipped around it and countered with one of his own. It missed as the Cyborg slipped back from him a few feet.

"They're practically dead even." Gohan said, his eyes shifting back and forth between them. "The slight edge in power Tatamo has isn't enough to give him any real advantage."

"I get the feeling he's still warming up." Hotaru said. "He may be at full strength now but his form and technique have been steadily improving the whole match."

"Powers this close to each other, that's what this will come down to." Videl said with a nod. "Which of them is more skilled than the other."

The two fighters had charged in at each other again and were now only inches apart. Both had launched right fists and both had been caught by the other fighter's left hand. Mijima glanced down at their hands and then back up at her opponent and smirked. "If you wanted to dance all you had to do was ask."

Tatamo smirked back and then his eyes began to glow. The Cyborg let go of the Sai-jin's hand and attempted to move back but he had a strong hold of her. So instead she shifted to the side as the twin beams of energy surged passed her. Then she felt a tug on her arm and realized he'd yanked her in toward him. Turning her head to look she saw his fist flying at her face as fast as she was surging toward him. Once more she tried to pull back and this time she felt her fist slip free of his hand, but she'd not broken loose, he'd released her hand.

He knew as well as she did that it was too late to dodge or block now but she still tried. And she got a fist to the face for her efforts. The blow sent her sailing nearly two hundred yards before slamming her into the barrier at the edge of the battle pit. The energy field sparked and rippled, red light surging out along it's surface temporarily making it visible to those in the stands. But as the field strength stabilized it vanished from sight again, as did the Cyborg. Tatamo's eyes widened in shock and he looked about for some sign of his opponent.

"What the...?" Videl wondered. Even the cameras and monitors hadn't caught the faintest hint of movement. Even earlier, when they'd been using high speed movement to apparently vanish the cameras had caught the movements. But this time there was nothing...

Krillin sighed. "I don't believe it. She actually pulled it off..."

"Pulled what off Krillin?" Yamcha asked.

"Relocation." the short Human replied. "Goku's multiple disappearances on the lookout after our first battle against the Androids got her interest. She took a trip to Yardrat a couple years ago to learn the technique, but even after three months there she'd not gotten the hang of it. I'd thought she'd given up trying a long time ago..."

As he filled them in on the origins of Mijima's technique the woman in question had re-appeared behind Tatamo and slammed a foot into his back. This time he was the one surging toward the barrier but, a second before hitting, he vanished. Mijima's eyes widened but before she could react a foot smashed into the side of her head. She flipped around in the air and thrust out an arm firing a blast of energy toward the Sai-jin but he vanished again.

This time she followed suit, his fist as he re-appeared passing through thin air. Then she was behind him launching off a kick but he was gone before it could hit. The two were vanishing and attacking and vanishing again too fast for the cameras to keep track. By the time the monitors locked onto their current position they were already gone.

"No... way..." Krillin breathed, wide-eyed. "He can use it too?"

Piccolo cast a glance at Krillin for a moment before looking out toward the Battle Pit and smirking lightly. /Not quite. He's shifting back and forth between here and Otherworld to simulate the Relocation technique./

"Man, this fight's getting intense." Yamcha said, no longer watching the monitor. He was following the fight, at least half of it, with his senses. For now, at least. The two warriors were still managing to avoid each other's attacks as they teleported around the Battle Pit. The frequency at which these teleportations were occurring had increased quickly and now they were only appearing for a fraction of a second at a time.

And then suddenly the pattern was broken. Mijima appeared, Tatamo vanished, Mijima vanished, Mijima appeared... no signs of Tatamo. The Cyborg stopped and looked around not sure where the Sai-jin had gone. And then a thunderous crack sounded as Tatamo appeared smashing his knee into the back of her head, a large grin on his face. Piccolo was the only one that realized what had happened.

Tatamo had remained in Otherworld and used his powers as planet Vegeta's Guardian to look in on the world. He'd waited for Mijima to stop and an opening to form and then came back. "Cheater." he said softly, smirking.

While the Cyborg was still sailing forward out of control Tatamo had thrust his arms out to his side forming a T with his body. Blue energy flared around his arms and then shrank into several blue rings, three along each arm. "Containment!" he cried whipping his arms back and forth launching one ring from each arm in rapid succession.

Mijima had only just righted herself and gotten her flight under control again when she saw them coming. Her initial reaction was to block and that soon proved to be a mistake. The six rings reached her and then attached themselves to her. One around each wrist, one around each ankle, one around her waist, and one around her neck holding her out in an X shape.

"Anchor!" he called next, closing his hands into fists. The blue rings flashed and turned golden and he smiled. "Well, not sure what kind of teleportation technique you use but you wont be using it now." he said. The blonde realized he was right, she couldn't Relocate. The Sai-jin took a deep breath and wiped some sweat off his brow. "That was quite the workout, I was starting tire. You weren't though, were you? Something about infinite energy I believe."

Her eyes widened a bit at that. That wasn't exactly common knowledge in the galaxy. "Well, are you going to surrender or do I have to finish this?" he asked at last. She merely scowled at him to which he shrugged. "Have it your way." Thrusting an arm out toward her he opened his hand and pointed his palm at her. "BANISH!" he cried, closing his hand into a fist.

The world seemed to flash negative a couple of times and Mijima threw her head back letting out a loud and painful scream. And then her head fell forward as she passed out. The rings holding her vanished and she fell to the ground. Tatamo floated where he was listening to the count and then, as soon as he was declared the winner of the match, he vanished. 


	11. Mighty Child Warriors

Chapter Eleven - Mighty Child Warriors

"He... beat Mijima?" Videl said in quiet shock. "No way..."

"Geez, this tournament just gets harder and harder." Yamcha said frowning and crossing his arms. "I'm half tempted to just drop out."

Krillin chuckled. "Yeah, if I was fighting me in the third round I'd drop out too."

"What was that?"

"You heard me." he replied, grinning.

"Alright, that's it baldy. You're going down in two rounds." Yamcha said grinning as he made his way out to the battle pit. His opponent, Aiko, had already gone out. No one really expected the match to last long, though. Aiko had improved since her appearance in the first Tanarian Budokai several years ago but not nearly to the degree that Yamcha had. A few seconds later their thoughts were proven true as Aiko collapsed to the ground unconscious from a single blow to the back of her head.

"Our turn at last." Trunks said as he watched Yamcha making his way back in. "Now, listen up Akemi, Krillin is strong. He's almost as strong as Goten and I so you can't hold back too much if you want to beat him."

"Trunks is right." Sakura said with a nod.

"Don't worry, I know what to do!" she said with a smile.

"Alright, show those grown-ups what we can do." Cheri said grinning. Akemi gave them a nod and then followed Krillin out into the battle pit.

"I can't believe all of you kids made it through to the main tournament." Krillin said looking over to Akemi. "I mean, this is a gathering of the strongest fighters in the galaxy... and you're only five."

"I'm five and half!" she said smiling.

Krillin chuckled. "Right. Five and a half. Well then, this looks like far enough." he said turning to face her. She followed suit and the two stood there waiting for the match to start. Krillin watched curiously as the kid, almost as tall as him, braced her body as though she were going to power-up any second. And then the call for the match to start came and Akemi started straining, wind blowing up around her and clothes flapping.

"Come on Akemi..." Sakura said softly. She knew her sister had trouble sometimes. It was expected, really. She herself not gotten the hang of transforming until she was eight.

Suddenly a flash of orange came from the young fighter and then a column of energy surged up into the air. It swirled for a second and then shattered. As it did Akemi surged out at Krillin and caught him completely off guard with a hard right to his jaw that sent him flying.

In the competitors area Hotaru and the others stared open mouthed at the sudden revelation. "I guess it's not too surprising..." Yamcha said after a moment. "Sakura can transform too..."

Hotaru nodded. "Yeah, but she didn't start doing that until she was six. I guess she's been teaching her sister how to do it..."

Out in the battle pit Akemi's solid purple eyes locked onto Krillin and she shot after him in a burst of orange. By the time she reached him he'd recovered and managed to just dodge around her fist. He countered with a hard left of his own but she managed to block that and then knee him in the stomach. He drifted back holding it and grimacing.

"This should be considered cheating!" he cried. "Well, alright then. If that's how you want to play kiddo. Nibai Kinryoku!" There was a flash as the silver aura of the attack surged up around him. With a crack he shot in at his opponent and landed a hard kick to her stomach knocking her backward and down to the ground.

"Well, that's that." Videl said. "She gave it a nice try but Krillin out matches her now."

Akemi, however, didn't see it quite like that. As she climbed to her feet she was debating which tactic she should take next. By the time she was on her feet again and facing Krillin she decided to go with the easiest option. "Monkey see... monkey do!" she said smiling. "Nibai Kinryoku!" Her orange aura vanished in a burst of silver and she charged in at Krillin again.

"No way!" Yamcha cried in disbelief. "She can... but..." he was suddenly at a loss for words. So instead he glanced back to where the other kids were and saw that they were all smirking. Apparently they'd known about this already.

"I guess this is what Goten was talking about..." Videl said, blinking.

The short Human Akemi was fighting was so shocked he almost forgot to block but his arms came up at the last second and deflected her attack. The two began exchanging blows where they floated and his mind tried to comprehend that he was having more trouble now than he had been earlier. The exchange ended with a loud crack as she managed to land a fist to his face and knock him back again.

Pulling himself to a stop only a few feet from the wall he looked up and his eyes widened. A large ball of silver energy was surging right toward him. With a cry he thrust out his left arm and countered with an attack of his own, the energy blasts exploding only a few yards from his location. Lowering his arm he watched Akemi floating just beyond the dust cloud.

"Ok, this is embarrassing." he muttered. "Right then. No more fun and games kiddo! Time to go all out. Yottsu Kinryoku!" The aura flared up brighter and thicker and his power skyrocketed.

"Oh, wow, Krillin's really improved." Roshi said as he felt the power spike. A moment later the Human's power reading leveled off at 1,205,768 Akemi's was still holding at 715,392

Silver light trailed along behind him as Krillin shot in at his young opponent. He wasn't sure if she had any more surprises up her sleeve and he didn't particularly want to find out. He reached her before she could react and landed a solid right hook across her jaw followed by a kick to the side that smashed her into the ground.

Letting out a long breath he relaxed a little as the count started. By seven he was turning around to head back and was about to power down. But eight never came. He stopped and looked back to see Akemi crawling slowly back to her feet, already on her knees. A second later she was up again and facing him. "You wanna fight at full power already?" she asked, frowning. "Trunks and the others always let me get a good warm up in first!"

Krillin chuckled. "But they're not competing for five hundred million Zennie when they do that."

"Well, ok. I guess full power it is then."

Krillin blinked. That... didn't sound particularly like defeat. Suddenly she hunched over and let out a cry, the ground cracking beneath her feet as a silver whirlwind formed around her. A second later there was a bright flash from inside followed by a loud crack as Akemi smacked her fist into Krillin's face.

The short Human sailed backwards about a hundred yards before crashing to the ground, bouncing three times, and then sliding another fifty yards and stopping. Akemi landed a short distance away and listened to the count. When it reached ten her body flashed orange and she reverted back to normal.

Hotaru's eyes were still locked on the final power reading her youngest daughter had put out. Five million. Almost six. There's only one thing that could have just happened. Akemi had transformed up to the second level. But... that was just... She was still just a kid...

Those down in the competitors area weren't the only ones shocked by Akemi's display of power. The entire arena had gone into a shocked silence that lasted several long moments before bursting into cheers. Though, while the cheers sounded around the arena, the silence persisted in the V.I.P. box for several more minutes before Bulma finally broke it. "Wow, and I'd thought Trunks was a handful. I've got no envy for Hotaru and Yamcha."

"Tell me about it." Chi-Chi said. "But at least Hotaru's still stronger than her daughter."

"I guess it makes sense though." said Bulma a moment later. "The Sakura from the future did warn Hotaru about Tanarian hybrids being able to control their Ki from birth, and about her having been born with the ability to transform. We always just assumed that it had been because Hotaru had transformed while pregnant, that her unlocking of the form had done it for Sakura as well. Apparently that doesn't matter and it just gets passed along."

Nova couldn't believe the power the child had just put out. It was incredible. Beyond even her own power. And the two women hardly seem surprised by it, based on their conversation. It was a bit much to take in and she was still absorbing it a few moments later when the sixth match started and ended in only a couple of seconds. Piccolo had landed a single solid kick to the side of Pug's head and knocked the alien unconscious.

"Ouch..." Bulma said, cringing a bit, as she watched the Namek leave the battle pit. "Piccolo's never been one to play around in a fight."

Roshi watched as the next two fighters made their way out. "I'm not sure who to feel sorry for here. Tien or Trunks." he said. "I don't know how strong either of them are but I doubt that Tien's just been sitting around doing nothing the last seven years."

"He hasn't." Bulma informed him. "He and Raditz have been training to the bone from what I've seen and heard. I just hope Trunks doesn't sulk all week after this."

In the competitors area Goten and Cheri glanced at each other grinning. "Alright, go Trunks!" Goten cried, pumping a fist into the air. A second later the match started and the young Prince shot across the space between him and Tien and started his assault. However, the Tri-clops was stronger and faster than the boy had expected and he soon realized he was out matched.

"Hmm, not too shabby." Vegeta said as he watched. "He's picked up a lot without having any formal training yet. Though his power could use some work."

His father chuckled. "If I remember correctly, Vegeta, you hadn't even broken fifty thousand yet at his age." The younger Vegeta scowled a little but said nothing.

Trunks eyes widened and he started flying backwards and weaving left and right around Tien's swings. "Man, I didn't know he was this strong." he muttered. He knew that Krillin and Yamcha were weaker than him and Goten and he'd figured Tien wouldn't be much better than them. But the tri-clops was leagues beyond them. "Man, I can't believe I'm gonna have to do this already! Oh well, here goes!"

He stopped going back and clenched his hands into fists. Tien's latest punch was only inches from his face when he let out a loud cry and blinding flash of gold. There was a crack a second later, followed by a bright flash of gold. When the glare died away everyone stared on in shock. Trunks' hair now stood up spiky and golden, his eyes were green, and a golden aura pulsed around him. The crack had been Tien's fist impacting the child's face and being stopped dead.

"He... he's a Super Sai-jin!?" Vegeta cried in shock. "But... how?"

Bulma blinked as she looked at Trunks on the monitor. Sighing she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "On second thought, I do envy Hotaru..."

"But... how is he a Super Sai-jin already?" Roshi asked.

Nova blinked and looked over to the old master before back at the monitor showing the young prince. This was the first time she'd ever seen a Super Sai-jin and the transformation wasn't quite what she'd expected. But the power was certainly something else. According to the scanners he was now over fifteen million. And yet he was only a child still.

Bulma shook her head. "I had no idea he could even transform... maybe it's like with Sakura and Akemi..."

"But..." Chi-Chi started. "That would mean that Goten..." He shoulders sagged and she slumped back into her chair with a groan.

Back down in the battle pit Tien had floated back from Trunks and landed. Trunks had remained where he was but had crossed his arms and was grinning. "Sorry Tien but I'm winning this round. Why don't you save us a little time and just surrender?"

Tien smiled. "Sorry to disappoint you Trunks, but I've only just started." Suddenly he hunched over and braced himself and Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Here we go! Itsutsu Kinryoku!" he cried. The bright silver aura flared up around him and his power shot up to just short of three million, his muscles expanded some and a few blood vessels started standing out on his body. And then... "Kaio ken... times five!"

His muscles expanded further for a moment before shrinking away down to a size slightly less than before. His red aura pulsed and flared around him, licking across his body like a flame. Trunks eyes widened as he felt the power radiating from the Human before him. "No... way!" he cried in shock.

He wasn't the only one surprised. "Unbelievable!" Roshi cried looking at Tien's power. "He's over fourteen and a half million!"

"Wow." Gohan said as Tien surged in and resumed his fight with Trunks. "I had no idea that Tien had improved so much..."

"He's almost as powerful as me now." Senator Vegeta said, rather surprised. He glanced away from the monitor then and back at Tien's daughter. /I wonder how much of his talent and potential she inherited. If she dodged the power suppression gene from her mother... she could easily become the most powerful Sai-jin to ever live.../

Back in the battle pit the two warriors were going at it fiercely. Trunks had recovered from his shock quickly and was holding his own without difficulty. He still had the power advantage, though at this level the scales weren't tipped so far in his direction to make victory assured. The young prince was, however, using his distinct advantage of being faster and smaller to its full potential.

He avoided blocking whenever possible, instead opting to dodge around the blows thus conserving more of his energy than he would otherwise. His father noticed one other detail about the boy's movements that made him smirk. His style was distinctly that of the royal line. It was imperfect, more emulation than true knowledge, but it was there. He'd put his time watching his father to use and had learned the royal style as best he could on his own.

A few minutes more watching the exchange before him and Vegeta noticed something else that made him smile. The look on his son's face and in his eyes. The look of a true Sai-jin warrior. One facing a challenging fight and reveling the chance to push themselves. /So she's not spoiled him totally./ he thought with a light smirk.

"And to think..." Senator Vegeta said, cutting into his son's thoughts. "Just about ten years ago I was worried about the future of our people. I would not doubt that young Trunks is the strongest Prince the Sai-jin people have ever seen."

Raditz glanced over to the two Royals before looking toward Piccolo, Gohan, and Videl. "I'll bet each of you a thousand Zennie Tien wins this fight." he said, smirking lightly.

"Huh? Do you know something Raditz?" Gohan asked. The Sai-jin merely continued to smirk. 


	12. Beyond Human

Chapter Twelve - Beyond Human

"Woohooo!" Goku cheered pumping his fist into the air over and over. He wasn't the only one cheering fiercely either. The entire Otherworld Stadium was jam packed with thousands of dead spectators. At the center of the stadium, where the ring typically rested, was a massive crystal ball showing the fights of the Galactic Games on Planet Vegeta.

"I can't believe how strong Tien has become." Appla said watching. "It's amazing. He's surpassed anything I thought a Human could attain."

"We've underestimated the Humans before." Bardock said. "There's more to them than meets the eye. I think the only reason they're so weak on average is a lack of knowledge. I think, now that they know about Ki, they'll rise up in over all power rather quickly. Though, Tien is exceptional..."

"So's Trunks." Goku said. "A Super Sai-jin so young!"

Appla nodded. It was most surprising, and impressive.

The warriors in the stands weren't just gathered to observe the battles in the Mortal Realm. That could have been handled anywhere. No, they were here for more than one tournament. Once the Grand Kai had learned how the tournament in the mortal plane would play out he set-up the Otherworld Tournament to follow suit. Once day one of the Galactic Games ended, day one of the Otherworld Tournament would begin.

They'd do their first round fights after the Galactic Games first rounds ended, their second would follow the Galactic Games second round, and so on. And then, finally, in four days, the two tournaments would hold their finals. It was an event of epic proportions the likes of which even Otherworld hadn't seen before.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit

Trunks ducked down under a hard right from Tien and then came up pounding his fist into the Human's stomach. The Tri-clops pulled back as his left leg shot up and smashed into the side of the Prince's head. A crack sounded a second later as the child blocked another kick with his arm and then slammed his own knee into his opponent's jaw.

Spinning around he snapped out a kick into Tien's chest knocking him back. He then thrust an arm out sending a ball of golden energy trailing after him. It impacted and exploded just as the Human recovered, the blast slamming him down into the ground. Trunks landed, arm still held out, panting heavily.

The two had been going for twenty minutes now making this the longest match yet. The length of the fight was taking its toll on both warriors but the young Prince was feeling the effects the worst from it. He wasn't used to extended battles like this, his stamina wasn't quite up to it. He groaned as he saw Tien climbing back to his feet again, the count only having reached six.

As Tien got to his feet it was evident that he was weakened from the battle as well. He was breathing heavy, though not as badly as the child. Despite their bodies wearing down their powers had declined little. Though tired as they were it was hard to put as much power behind each new attack as the last.

Suddenly there were twin flashes of light, one red and one golden, as the two charged in at each other once more. Only feet apart they suddenly vanished and the camera's panned around to find them. They were easy to locate a second later as a loud crack and bright flash emanated from the sky nearly a hundred yards above the ground. The two were, once again, exchanging fierce blows at close range.

Suddenly Trunks landed an open palm to Tien's stomach winding him and followed that up with a kick to the back that slammed him into the ground once more. This time he didn't let it end there. /Heh. Watch this dad!/ he thought grinning as he aimed a short arm down at the prone Human, golden energy gathering before his palm.

Down below Tien had pulled himself back to his feet and was turning to face his opponent when the child's voice sounded out. "Take this. Big Bang... Attack!" The golden energy ball swelled in size and shot down at the Tri-clops who quickly brought his arms up in front of his chest.

The angle was odd, making it hard to aim, but a moment before the attack hit his own voice called out. "Tri-Beam!" Golden energy flashed between his palms and then surged out and slammed into the incoming attack sending it surging back up into the sky. The young Prince's eyes widened and he thrust his arms down firing a powerful blast of energy into his rapidly returning attack causing both to explode.

The Human left out a long breath as his stance relaxed and his aura dimmed. He was still powered up but he was relaxing now. "What, done already?" Trunks asked between pants.

Tien shook his head. "Not me, you. You're too worn out to keep going. You did good conserving your energy but you wasted too much stamina. You can't beat me now."

"We'll see about that!" he called shooting in at Tien. He reached him a second later and lashed out with a powerful punch that caught nothing but air. The image of Tien wavered and then vanished, a soft crunch coming from behind the Prince as the Human landed a few yards away.

"Alright, still have some fight left in you I see."

"Of course I do!" Trunks cried turning around.

"Ok then." he said, closing his eyes. White lightning like energy crackled around his left arm suddenly. And then another crackled around one of his legs. Then another and another all across his body. A moment later he was glowing white inside the pulsing red Kaio Ken aura. And then a loud explosion came, along with a blinding flash of white light and rush of wind from Tien.

When the glare faded away and everyone got a look at Tien their mouths hung open in shock and disbelief. No longer did he look as he had before. The hair of his eyebrows was now white, his three black eyes now orange, and the whites of them a slowly shifting and rippling soft blue, like energy coursed within them.

His skin, too, now seemed to have gone slightly transparent with blue energy visibly flowing through it. Almost like a chameleon trying to blend in with the ocean and sky, parts of his skin shifted and rippled with blue tones that flowed across his body like waves in the sea. But beyond these changes there was one other physical difference. Below his arms was a second pair of arms, he now had four of them. He'd also added some extra height to his body to have room for the new limbs.

"Wh-what kind of technique is that!?" Trunks cried, taking a step back. He could feel it plain as day. Tien's power had just doubled. In a split second his power had shot up high enough that the young Prince now had no chance of victory. Especially not in his already worn out state.

"It's not a technique." Tien said, his voice the same as ever. "About a year and a half ago Raditz and I went on a training trip traveling from one world to the next looking for new challenges. On one world my body was pushed to its limits and then... this. A transformation. I don't know if it's entirely natural, I was exposed to some odd energies prior to attaining it, but I have it just the same.

"So, do you give up now? You can't beat me like this. Even if you were still in top condition the difference would be too great." Tien crossed his arms, all four of them. "Well?"

"No. I don't give up!" Trunks cried, suddenly launching in again. A loud crack sounded a second later as the Prince reached him and was promptly backhanded away, like a fly being swatted. The child flew a few yards before crashing to the ground, bouncing a few times, then sliding further and coming to a stop. Along the way his golden aura had vanished and his hair had fallen down.

As the count started Tien's body began to glow again. This time it faded away without the show of before and once more he was back to normal. Once the count hit ten he turned and made his way back to the competitors area.

"Wow." Gohan said, blinking. "That was... amazing. I had no idea Humans could transform..."

"Neither did I, and I am one!" Krillin cried. "Though I'm not surprised Tien was the one to find it."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet

The Grand Kai raised an eyebrow as he saw Tien transform. "My, my, my. This I have not seen in many years. Many years indeed."

"You've seen it before?" King Kai asked blinking. The short Kai was seated in the chair directly to the right of the Grand Kai, with the East Kai to his right. The South Kai and West Kai where on the Grand Kai's left. King Kai had never actually witnessed a Human transformation before despite having trained several hundred highly skilled Humans over the years.

The Grand Kai nodded. "It's not been as long as when the first second level Super Sai-jin was here but it was about... hmmm, I think about eight thousand years ago. You remember the warrior Suez, yes? Olibu's father?"

"Olibu's... you mean he is the one who reached it?"

The Grand Kai nodded. "Indeed. He saw attaining the form the pinnacle of his work. That is when, and why, he chose to leave my world for Heaven." The Grand Kai rubbed his beard in thought. "It is not an easy form to obtain. You need a strength of mind and spirit, more than of body, and complete harmony between them and the body."

"Tien attained that many years ago." King Kai said. "Before I learned of him he already possessed the third eye brought about by his intense mental and spiritual training."

"Whatever this experience he mentioned was..." the Grand Kai began. "It must have allowed the last element he needed to fall into place, which ever element it was that had remained for him." The Grand Kai smiled. "King Kai, make a note. After this tournament speak with Yemma. When this Tien comes to Otherworld he is to be given permission to come here."

King Kai blinked. That was... a first. He'd never known the Grand Kai to ever extend an invitation of his own for a warrior to come to his world upon death. His offering to allow Goku, Bardock, Appla, Trunks, and Sakura to remain seven years ago, prior to learning of the Dragonballs on Earth, had been one thing. But this was something entirely different.

"I don't see what's so special about it." West Kai huffed. He obviously didn't like the fact that his galaxy was being outshined in this tournament. Not by being beaten, there were no fighters from the West Galaxy even in the tournament since none of the galaxies had yet to even interact with each other in the mortal world, but by power alone. The current strongest living mortal in the West Galaxy was only around twenty thousand.

The South and East Kai's egos weren't taking quite the same beating. Yet. There was a group of five in the East Galaxy with powers ranging from five to twelve million and several hundred people in the mid to upper hundred thousands. The South Galaxy toped that, though, with one fighter just over one hundred million and a few dozen in the eight to twenty million range.

While the East Galaxy's strongest had been surpassed by a couple North Galaxy fighters already it wasn't by such a large ammount that the East Kai was upset over it. And since none of the fighters in the tournament had yet surpassed a hundred million the South Kai still doubted King Kai's claims. "The fight I'm looking forward to..." King Kai began. "At least of this first round, is Hotaru and Vegeta. They should be exceptional by now."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box

The room was still completely silent. Tien's match had ended nearly five minutes ago now and no one had yet spoken. They were all still absorbing what they had seen. Nova for a reason different than the others. /This is... unbelievable.../ she thought, still staring down into the empty battle pit. /That Human was... his power... he's even stronger than King Cold was... How... How are there so many fighters now with such power?/ Remembering what Vegeta had told her before she shook her head. /And just how strong are the others?/

"What... was that?" Bulma wondered softly, finally breaking the silence. "I... Human's can transform? But... that's..." She couldn't place words for it. She'd never seen anything in Human DNA that indicated a transformation, as far as she could tell. She'd need to talk to Tien later... run a few tests, see if she could find it.

"I wonder..." Roshi began. "If those who are only half Human can access it as well..."

The two Human women glanced over to the aged Master, then at each other, and sighed, both thinking the same thing. Super Sai-jin kids were enough trouble.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

It had taken a moment for the crowd, both in the stands and in the competitors area, to calm down. By now Tien had already returned from his match and Sango and Vadora had stepped out for their fight. "That was amazing Tien." Gohan said as the Human reached them.

Tien shrugged. "I hadn't expected to have to use my full power so soon, though." He looked up at the monitor as he heard a loud crack and saw Vadora blocking a punch from Sango. Another crack sounded as his mate smashed her fist into the Tanarian's face knocking her back, down, and out. The crowd started to boo as soon as the count hit 8.

"Ouch." Videl said, faking a cringe. "I guess they don't like short fights."

"Can't be helped some times." said Gohan with a shrug. "Vadora's almost twice as strong as Sango."

"They'll be really disappointed if the finals are quick." Piccolo said with a glance toward Gohan. "So I suggest you make them interesting."

"Hey!" Videl cried, putting her hands on her hips. "And just who says Gohan's going to the finals, hmm? He has to get through me first!"

Gohan hung his head and sighed while Piccolo smirked. "Hear that Gohan?" the Namek asked. "Sounds like your girlfriend is out to win."

"HEY!" Gohan cried, head snapping up. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Videl asked, glaring up at him.

"Uh... uh..." Gohan stammered.

Yamcha felt sorry for him and moved over between him and Videl. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything." he said, putting a hand on Gohan's back. "Oh, looks like you're up Videl."

She was about to say more but looked and, sure enough, it was her match. She'd not even realized the fight between Toma and Kavar had started, let alone ended. Glancing at the standings on her way out she saw that Kavar had moved on.

"Thanks..." Gohan breathed softly, once Videl was out of ear shot. He looked up at the screen as Videl's match started and then cringed as her opponent fell to the ground from a punch to the abdomen that had had more power to it than had been required.

Yamcha patted Gohan's back a couple of times and then turned away. "Yeah... good luck when she comes back..." he said, walking off. 


	13. Goten's Secret Secret

Chapter Thirteen - Goten's Secret Secret

The crowd was restless. After the handful of exciting and stand out matches they'd gotten at the start they'd seen nothing but quick one hit knock outs since. Mango had fallen to a single punch from Gainin. Yuki had gone down to a kick from Gohan. Akira had surrendered his match against the elder Vegeta. And Sakura had taken out Tangerie with a head butt.

Now Goten was walking out into the Battle Pit with his uncle. The other kids cheering for him as he looked around at the crowd. "Wow, look at all the people." he said, wide eyed. "This is so cool!"

Raditz chuckled as he stopped, they were far enough out now, and turned to face Goten. "Stay focused kid, or you'll lose before we even start."

"Right!" he cried, facing his uncle and taking a fighting stance. Raditz wasn't sure what all to expect. Up until Trunks had fought Tien he'd figured this would be a breeze match. But if his nephew could transform as well he could have a challenge. Depended on how much power the little guy had when transformed.

He doubted he could get the full power of the form, which was good because then the kid would be stronger than him. Still, if he was close to that the fight could be interesting. Though he was hoping to end it before it got too interesting. As soon as the match was called to start he shot in at his nephew at full speed pulling back his fist along the way.

Goten's eyes widened and he shot back quickly. His uncle was a lot faster, though, and reached him only a few seconds later. He shut his eyes as he saw the fist coming and braced himself. The punch landed with a loud crack and a bright flash of gold. Goten slowly opened one eye and looked to see Raditz's fist against his forehead though he'd barely felt it.

Sighing he grinned and crossed his arms. "Hehe! Now you can't hurt me!"

"Oh, think so, do you?" Raditz asked, smirking. "Kaio ken times ten!" His normal blue aura vanished and was replaced by a new bright red one. He pulled back, spun, and slammed the heel of his foot into Goten's head with a loud crack sending the young Super Sai-jin sailing away. There was a flash of red as he shot off after him.

Goten flipped over in the air and his eyes widened again as he saw the Sai-jin charging at him. He quickly dodged to the right just avoiding a hard punch. "Hey, that's not fair!" he cried. "You can't be as strong as me in super! That's cheating!" Raditz just smirked and launched a kick for the kid's head.

Goten shot his arm up and blocked it with a grimace. His uncle wasn't as strong as him, he was stronger. Enough that the boy knew this would be a hard fought match. He was tempted to pull out the stops, go all out, but he discarded that idea. He'd need that to catch Vegeta off guard next round to beat him. That didn't mean he was completely out of options, or tricks, and he grinned.

There was a bright flash of gold as he shot up and back. As he flew he kept his eyes locked on Raditz and thrust his arms down toward him, hands open and fingers spread. Gold energy formed around his hands in a ring. "Doughnut Gun!" he cried firing off thick rings of golden energy.

Raditz dodged to the side as the first one passed him. He turned and watched it slam into the ground below him showering rocks and dirt. Looking back up again he saw five more coming and quickly swerved around them as he flew up toward his opponent. Goten grinned which made Raditz hesitate.

Suddenly the boy spread his arms and legs out forming an X shape as a gold ring traced around his entire body. "Super Doughnut Gun!" he cried happily. A thick ring of energy the size of Goten shot off toward the nearing Sai-jin. Raditz spotted the opening in the middle and realized he could fit through it so he charged up. He grinned. He'd go right through the ring and catch his little nephew by surprise.

He was half way through the attack when suddenly the hole closed and pinned his arms against his body. His ascent stopped as the attack threw him toward the ground at high speeds. He fought to get free but the attack, and him, reached the ground first with a loud crash. "Yahoo!" Goten cheered, thrusting an arm into the air.

A second later the dust broke open as his uncle came charging up at him again, red aura trailing behind him. "Yikes!" Goten cried, a blue energy blast surging passed him as he just barely dodged it. He swerved the other way just in time to dodge a second blast and then kicked a third back at Raditz.

The Sai-jin deflected it away and then looked up for his nephew again and saw him charging down. Raditz slipped to the side and up and jammed his elbow down into Goten's back just as the child was zipping passed him. The blow smashed him down into the ground with a crash. The Sai-jin surged down after him and slammed his foot into the ground missing Goten as the boy rolled out of the way.

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Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box

Mijima, Krillin, Vadora, Tien, Sango, and Gainin had joined the others in the V.I.P. box between matches. "This is amazing..." Nova said, watching the battle as Raditz powered up his Kaio ken. "To think children could be this powerful..."

"It's in their blood." Roshi said. "Goku and Bardock were the two strongest Sai-jins alive seven years ago, until Gohan surpassed them. Hotaru's the strongest Tanarian alive currently, leagues beyond the rest of her people."

"Though they are gaining." Bulma said slowly. "Everyone is. The average power of every race in the galaxy is increasing steadily, has been for decades. And exceptional fighters beyond the norm are appearing in every race at increasing frequency. The stronger people get the stronger others become. It's a cycle."

"Do you mean everyone will eventually be this powerful?" Nova asked.

Bulma shook her head. "No. It'll plateau out, find a new balance." she said, watching Raditz blast up out of the dust from his earlier impact. "Even the super high powers like Hotaru, Gohan, and Vegeta will subside some, in time. But the age of 17 million being enough to dominate the galaxy is passed. Now we're in an age where power is measured not in the tens of millions, but the hundreds."

Nova looked over to the other queen. /Powers in the hundreds of millions?/ she thought. /Is that even possible?/

Sango nodded in agreement with Bulma. "She's right. Ten years ago I never would have dreamed that I, or any Tanarian in my lifetime, would have surpassed the hundred thousand mark without transforming. But Hotaru and I are both over that. Akira would be too if he actually bothered to train seriously instead of spending all of his time training the next generation of fighters."

"And transformations only add to it." Vadora said. "Goten, Trunks, Gohan, Videl, and King Vegeta are all Super Sai-jins. Hotaru, Sakura, and Akemi are Super Tanarians. And Tien is a Super Human."

"Did you know?" Bulma asked, looking over toward the Sai-jin woman.

"I've seen it once or twice." she replied with a smile.

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's World, Otherworld Stadium

"I don't know who to cheer for." Appla said as Raditz was slammed into the ground by Goten's Super Doughnut Gun. "My son or my grandson."

"I was going to cheer for Goten." Bardock said. "But that was when I thought he was the underdog. Now I'm not so sure."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, this is amazing. He's a Super Sai-jin too!"

"Makes me even more anxious to see Gohan's fight." Appla said, grinning. "If the kids are this strong just imagine how much he's improved. Though, I doubt any of them compare to you two anymore."

Bardock laughed. "Being dead does have it's advantages." he said. "We can push ourselves so much harder here, and for longer too, before we burn out. A real Sai-jin paradise."

Now Appla laughed. "Unlimited booze, battles, and food?"

"Damn right!"

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Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit

Goten snapped his short leg out and slammed it into the back of Raditz's calf as the Sai-jin tried to pull his leg out of the ground. The elder warrior let out a shocked gasp of pain and fell forward, his leg breaking free of the ground as he landed. Goten pushed up into the air, flipped, and then dropped down quickly slamming his feet into the small of Raditz's back.

There was a flash of red a second later and the ground around Raditz exploded while the child on his back was flung into the sky by the Ki burst. Raditz rolled over onto his back and glared up at Goten before shooting up at him again. He let loose a flurry of punches and kicks that the small warrior dodged around as fast as he could.

The blows came close to landing, some of them too close for Goten's comfort, but he managed to avoid them. Still, he could tell this was getting him nowhere. His uncle was faster, stronger, and had a longer reach. He couldn't win if he couldn't get in close enough to hit him. Energy attacks only worked when they hit and with his speed the elder Sai-jin would be able to dodge most of them.

/Dang, I guess I don't have any choice./ Goten thought with a pout. /I can't lose here. Not with Cheri watching! Alright then, I guess it's time to show them what I can do! Hehe, this is gonna be fun!/ Goten pulled back from his uncle's swings but Raditz went after him. He smirked when he realized he was being chased.

Suddenly he pulled to a stop and shot in at the other at full speed. He was about five feet away when his voice suddenly called out. "Nibai Kinryoku!" His golden aura flashed, swirled, and turned silver in a blinding burst of light. Raditz eyes widened and he pulled to a quick stop. A thunderous crack sounded half a second later as Goten slammed, head first, into Raditz's chest.

By the time the glare faded Goten's aura was back to gold again and Raditz lay sprawled out on the ground nearly a hundred yards from the point of impact. "Ow, ow, ow, OW!" Goten chanted, shaking his arms. It felt like they'd just been passed through a fire. /Stupid! You did it wrong! It almost didn't work at all!/ he thought frowning.

He took a deep breath and kept working his arms to make them feel better as the count started. He frowned again as Raditz groaned and climbed back to his feet by the seven count. The move had misfired, he knew that, but he'd hoped the small ammount of power he had gotten had been enough to knock him out for the count.

"Looks like I have to do it again. Ok, get it right this time Goten." he said to himself as he shot down at the now standing Raditz. "Nibai Kinryoku!" he cried, his aura flaring silver once again. This time the glare faded before the technique was gone and everyone noticed that Goten's hair had even shifted to silver.

Raditz saw him coming and braced himself. His nephew was only a couple seconds away now and he smirked. "Kaio ken... times twenty!" he cried, the bright red aura flaring up around him. His right arm shot up and he blocked the punch aimed for his head. Goten scowled, his uncle had been holding back too!

With a cry he threw a kick which was deflected. Scowling more he launched into a furious assault of punches and kicks. Raditz dodged, blocked, or deflected most of them, only a few getting through. Those that did didn't do much damage, though. And Goten could tell. Both of them were twice as strong now as they were before and that put his Uncle at an even larger advantage.

/Oh man... I've not really even tried to go higher... but... if I don't I'll lose!/ Goten thought as he just slipped around a punch from the other. The elder Sai-jin had decided the best defense was an offense and had begun to attack when given the chance. /Ok.../ he thought as he took a deep breath. /I hope this works!/ "Sanjuu... Kinryoku!" he cried. There was a blinding flash of silver, a thunderous crack, and then a sudden and sharp scream.

Then it was all gone. The light vanished, the scream faded, and Goten's hair fell back down as it shifted to black once more. The child wavered in the air for a moment and then fell down to the ground landing with a soft thud. Raditz left out a long sigh of his own as he gazed down at his nephew and let the Kaio Ken fade away.

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Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

"Come on Goten!" Cheri called as Raditz's elbow smashed him into the ground. "You can beat him!"

Gohan glanced over to where the kids were standing cheering. "This day's been full of surprises."

"Keeps things interesting though." Videl said.

"No way!" Cheri cried as Goten's aura shifted to silver for a split second. "Alright Goten!"

Hotaru and Sakura shared in that first sentiment. "How did... Where did Goten learn the Kinryoku?" Hotaru wondered, looking over to her daughters. "Sakura, did you teach Goten the Kinryoku?"

"No mom." Sakura said, shaking her head, still in shock herself.

"I did." Cheri said with a glance over to the Tanarian Queen. "But I didn't think he could use it while transformed..." she turned back to the screen in time to see Goten power it up again, properly this time, and resume his attack against his uncle. "Hey, why'd his hair turn silver?"

Hotaru looked back at the screen then too and, sure enough, Goten's hair was glowing silver now. That was an effect she'd never seen before. But then, this was the first time she'd seen a Super Sai-jin use the Kinryoku. Suddenly Goten tried to use the next level of the technique but the power backwashed in on him from overload and he fell. "He's going to feel that for a while. Looks like the first level is all a Super Sai-jin can use."

Senator Vegeta shook his head as the count hit ten. "I never expected for my power to be surpassed by a six year old."

Hotaru stretched her arms and cracked her back as she started toward the Battle Pit. As she walked she cast a glance back at Vegeta. "Time to see who's stronger. Sai-jins or Tanarians." she said with a smirk. Vegeta smirked back at her and followed her out. 


	14. Battle Royal

Chapter Fourteen - Battle Royal

Hotaru came to a stop and turned to face Vegeta. A span of about twenty yards separated the two of them as they readied for the fight. The Tanarian took a slightly sidewise stance, slid her right foot back, held her left arm out toward Vegeta, and put her right arm back and to her side right level with her head.

Across the way Vegeta mirrored her efforts taking his own fighting stance. He turned to his side as she had, slid back his own right foot, and held out his left arm toward her. His knees bent and he bent at his waist slightly as he leaned forward. His right arm moved back and he held it straight out behind him. Those watching could see the similarities in their styles through their stances.

The match was called to start but neither fighter moved. Both stood, sizing up the other and gauging how this battle would go. They looked to see if the other was out just for the win or up for the battle. As their eyes met they both smirked, reading in the other's eyes the same thoughts going through their own head. There was a crack and a flash of purple as Vegeta launched and another of orange came as Hotaru transformed and surged in as well.

The Sai-jin's eyes widened and he just barely slipped around Hotaru's punch. As he did he brought his knee up and smashed it into her stomach. It didn't have as much effect as he'd hoped and she slammed her elbow into the side of his head knocking him into the ground. He rebounded out of the way as she loosed an energy blast obliterating the spot where he'd landed.

He landed with a soft tap, only his right foot touching the ground, and then shoved off again. Hotaru pulled back and to the right dodging his punch and then went the other way around a second fist. Her eyes widened and she went to move back as she realized, but it was too late, his knee shot up and cracked into her jaw snapping her head back. The blow launched her into the air ten feet before she started to come back down.

Vegeta was ready and his fist snapped out as she passed, the punch slamming into her chest with a crack and knocking her back and down. She slid nearly twenty yards before coming to a stop. She grimaced as she rolled over and climbed back to her feet. She hadn't expected those blows to hurt so much. As things stood she was stronger than Vegeta. Enough to tip the scales in her favor. But, despite all of her skill, he was more skilled.

Turning she looked toward him again and saw him smiling and back in his fighting stance. Reaching up with one arm she brushed a trickle of blood off her chin and then resumed her own stance. She could hear the roar of the crowd all around her. Chants of her name and of Vegeta's mixed in with hoots and hollers, calls and cries, thumping feet and clapping hands. The battle hadn't even truly started yet and the audience was loving every minute of it.

But then, why wouldn't they? It was a clash not of just two fighters but of two royals. Two races. Two warrior races that both claimed the title of greatest warrior race. For the Sai-jins and Tanarians in the crowd, and there were plenty of both, this was a chance for them to show the rest of the galaxy just what their people were capable of, just what kind of fighters they all were.

Hotaru let out a long sigh and then, once it was gone, shot in toward the Sai-jin royal. She swerved around a punch and came up behind him. Spinning around she snapped out a kick and slammed a foot into his back knocking him forward. In a burst of orange she shot after him. As she reached him he turned around and just managed to block her punch. She threw another and he barely slipped it and countered with his own.

Hotaru deflected the incoming fist and then fired off kick which was blocked. Dodged a punch, threw a blocked punch of her own, dodged a kick, dodged an elbow, blocked a knee, and then slammed an open palm into Vegeta's chest knocking him into the barrier around the stadium. As he bounced off of it she shot in, dove down, and then came up with a rising kick into his jaw knocking him higher.

Shooting up after him she grabbed his foot, moved back away from the barrier, and then started spinning. After building up decent speed she let go of him tossing him up into the air. As he flew up she pulled her fists back to her sides and the air around them shimmered slightly, like heat waves drifting up in the distance and distorting the horizon. Then she watched as Vegeta slowed and started to get control again.

The Sai-jin was just about to come to a stop when Hotaru thrust one arm up and out like a punch and called out. "Inryoku Chikara Rendan!" Suddenly Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he doubled over like someone had punched him in the stomach. Hotaru punched with the other fist and Vegeta's head snapped to the side like he'd been hit with a left hook. Quickly her arms became a blur of motion as she fired off punch after punch and Vegeta jerked about in the sky from the blows, despite the sixty yards that separated the two fighters.

After the hundredth attack she finally stopped and lowered her arms again, panting slightly. It hadn't worn her out that much, but using the attack so long was a bit tiring. She watched as Vegeta fell from the sky and spent the time catching her breath. He finally hit the ground fifteen seconds later with a dull thud and the count started. As it reached five she started to smirk but by seven he was moving and the count stopped at eight as he started to stand.

"You had me worried there." Hotaru called. "I thought you might not get back up."

The Sai-jin King turned to face her again, a scowl on his face. His eyes told her differently, though. He was enjoying this immensely. And she had to admit, so was she. The strongest person she had to train with was Yamcha and, while he was powerful, she couldn't even transform without outclassing him. Letting out a long breath she took her fighting stance again.

"It feels good, getting back to my people's roots." she said. "I think it's time to find out which warrior race is the better fighter." To this Vegeta replied with a smirk and the two shot in at each other once more. As they flew gold light exploded around the Sai-jin and the Tanarian's orange aura flared up brighter as she transformed to the second level. Almost instantly the orange vanished as silver burst out around her in tune with her voice. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!"

Orange lightning like energy crackled around the silver Kinryoku aura as the two warriors met, their fists crashing into each other in a thunderous explosion that shook the stadium and sent dust blowing out from the ground forty yards below. The two of them floated there, grinning at each other. And then her solid pink eyes flashed and the Sai-jin was flung backwards.

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Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box

The V.I.P. Box was now rather crowded as many of those who had competed in this round were currently there. "This should be a good match." Bulma said as Hotaru and Vegeta turned to face each other. "I doubt Vegeta will just go straight for the win. He and Hotaru have traded small taunts more than once at Sennari meetings."

"Makes sense." Videl said. "Both are royalty, leaders of their people, and both claim their race is the greatest warrior race to ever live."

"Yeah, and both have egos the size of the galaxy when it comes their race." Yamcha laughed. "But I'll bet anyone here a thousand Zennie that Hotaru wins."

"I'll take that bet." Raditz said, glancing over to the Human. "She's good, but there's no way she's stronger than King Vegeta."

"Dad knows something." Sakura said, leaning in toward the other kids. "He knows something and he's not telling."

"What do you mean?" Cheri asked.

"Well, it was shortly after the plague hit." Sakura said, thinking back. "Mom was still sad because grandma died and she was training all the time. And then, one day... I don't know. It was weird. The whole palace shook and the gravity room mom had been using was destroyed. They just said she'd over done it but, I don't think that was it."

"I remember!" Akemi cried, eyes wide. "Barely, but I remember. It was scary. She was sleeping for two whole weeks after that, and I couldn't touch her without getting a shock."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Something definitely happened that they didn't want to tell us about."

"You think it's why your dad is so sure your mom will win?" asked Goten.

"It doesn't matter what happened." Trunks said. "No one can beat my dad."

Sakura frowned and looked back at him. "Don't be so sure about that. Tanarian's are a warrior race too. My future self was stronger than your dad. Stronger than your future counterpart too, at the Cell Games, don't forget."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. That was then." Trunks said waving it off.

"I don't know, Trunks..." Goten said, watching the fight. Hotaru had just started her Inryoku Chikara Rendan. "Her mom's doing pretty good out there."

"Dad's not even transformed yet..." the boy started but his protest was cut short as Vegeta fell to the ground and the count started.

Krillin whistled. "Man, she's really laying into him out there."

"Has to." Vadora said. "Once he transforms it's all over, she needs to try and beat him now."

"I don't think she is." Piccolo started. By now Vegeta was back on his feet. "She's being serious but she's not going straight for the win. If she was she'd have gone straight to her full power..." Just as he finished both of the warriors transformed and resumed the battle.

Nova stared at the power readings for the two of them in complete shock. The Tanarian's power had climbed up to 168 million while the Sai-jin's power had leapt to 178 million. "A-amazing. Their power..."

"Vegeta's holding back." Piccolo said, narrowing his eyes a little. "He was stronger at the Cell Games, there's no way he'd have left his Super Sai-jin power decline over the last seven years."

"Probably thinks he can win." Yamcha said with a shrug. "Even holding back. What he doesn't know is that Hotaru's still warming up."

/Warming up? Holding back?/ Nova wondered, looking over the others in the room with her. /Surely they can't be that much stronger than this?/

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet

"That's... wow." the South Kai said slowly.

"Oh, this is nothing." King Kai said. "Vegeta's not at full power yet, he can't be."

"What do you mean?" The West Kai demanded. "How come he can't be at full power yet?"

"Because." King Kai explained. "He's been training for the last seven years and he was stronger than this seven years ago. I expect Hotaru's holding back as well, as much as she's trained since the end of the Cell Games."

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Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit

Hotaru shot after her opponent quickly. "I see being King hasn't given you much time to train." she said as he deflected her kick. "You were stronger at the Cell Games."

"I'm holding back." Vegeta smirked as he threw a punch at her head but she slipped around it, grabbed his arm, and flung him down toward the ground. She sent a barrage of silver energy blasts surging down after him. They impacted the ground and exploded showering dust and debris into the air. The dust cloud was blasted apart a second later as a stream of golden energy surged up into the sky.

Hotaru let out a cry and slammed a fist into it with a crack. The energy stream bent and diverted away from her speeding harmlessly off into space. The Sai-jin surged up at her in a flash of gold and she placed her fingers to her temples. "Kuro Omoi Seichuu!" she cried, eyes flashing. Suddenly Vegeta froze mid flight and Hotaru smirked. "Super Sai-jin is super susceptible to that." she said, charging down at him and landing a hard right hook across his jaw.

The blow knocked him down into the ground hard smashing out a large crater. Hotaru looked up from the impact point and around at the sky about her judging the room she had. She was a good mile from the barrier now, definitely enough room. In a blast of silver she surged up higher into the sky until she was a good six hundred feet up. Stopping she looked down again, the dust only now settling, and pointed her palms down toward where Vegeta had hit.

Her aura flared up around her and then vanished, the sky around her growing brighter than normal. Suddenly she flashed bright white and then the sky went dark for a second. The darkness shrank away as light spread out from Hotaru's hands and the Tanarian grinned. "Taiyou Inmetsu Hirameki!" she cried.

Suddenly the air between her and the ground, for nearly two hundred yards around her body, flashed blindingly bright. And then the ground in that area exploded, dust and rocks flying up into the sky, passed even where Hotaru floated. "Got him." she said, still grinning.

There was silence for nearly a minute as the crowd watched on to see if the match was over. And then a loud crack and flash of silver came from inside the dust cloud. Another came a moment later from another point. Then a third one of gold, a fourth of silver, and a fifth and sixth of gold. The sixth crack and flash was accompanied by a burst of force that blew the dust away and revealed the two warriors exchanging blows close range once more.

"It's been a while," Hotaru began, smiling. "Since I've been able to get this serious."

Vegeta smirked. "Too bad it's not enough to beat me."

"I didn't say I was completely serious." she replied, smirking back.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow but stayed focused on the fighting. As he slipped around another punch he saw an opening in her defenses and took advantage of it smashing his fist into her stomach. She doubled over his arm, eyes and mouth wide in pain. The Sai-jin then drifted back a little before slamming his fist into her face. The blow sent her flying away at high velocity until her decent slammed her head first into the ground.

The ground around her impact point exploded in a flash of silver and she floated back up onto her feet. As she landed she spat blood down into the grass and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She stared at the blood on her hand for a moment before looking up at Vegeta and then shifting her stance, cupping her hands at her side.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." Her silver aura flared up around her swirling madly like a tornado. "Meeeeeeeeeeeee..." Blue energy flared to life between her palms. "Ryoooooooooooo..." The blue energy flashed and shifted to silver as it grew larger. "Kuuuuuuuuuu... Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" She thrust her arms up into the sky, the ground under her feet shattered and exploded as the silver stream of energy tore free and surged at Vegeta.

The Sai-jin had been expecting a strong attack but not one this powerful. He thrust his arms down quickly and fired off a stream of golden energy to counter. However, it was soon evident he didn't have the power needed to hold off the attack, let alone deflect it. With a cry his golden aura flared up brighter and his power began to climb. As his strength increased the effects of his counter grew until the two beams stale-mated. And then he began to push her attack back at her.

Suddenly the Kameryokuha ended and Vegeta's attack surged down at the ground. It impacted where Hotaru had been standing a moment later and exploded showering dirt and rock into the sky. The Sai-jin tensed a bit. He wasn't sure how well Hotaru could have taken a hit like that and he was worried she could be dead. Suddenly the dust cloud was blasted apart by a rush of energy and a flash of orange. Hotaru's cries echoed through the stadium as her aura swelled and pulsed rapidly.

Her eyes started to glow as the ground began to shake. Her screams grew louder as a flash of blue lightning sparked around her aura. And then the aura flared out into a dome shape, orange and blue lightning sparking across its surface. Hotaru's cries faded away into the roar of her energy and then the dome shrank down and down and down until it vanished. And with it so had Hotaru.

"What the!?" Vegeta cried. Before he could start to look for her, though, a blinding flash of orange came from where she'd been standing. A ball of energy appeared and grew, slowly taking shape and creating the form of a person. Once the full body was formed the energy flashed and Hotaru stood there once more, orange aura licking across her body, orange and blue lightning dancing about it.

The added blue lightning wasn't the only difference. Her physical appearance had changed some as well. The previously orange tiger like stripes had changed color to red and had grown more numerous. They were on her face, her arms, her legs, and hidden under clothes across her entire body. Her sky blue hair had darkened several shades and was now a deep blue streaked with silver. And her previously solid pink eyes now had whites to them again, amid which floated pink irises.

Hotaru looked up at Vegeta and smiled as she took a deep breath. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I've only done that five times before." she said. "Still haven't completely gotten the hang of it." She raised a hand and clenched it into a fist, her smile growing as she looked at it. "Pretty impressive though, don't you think? I'm only one step away now. One more transformation and I'll be back to my origins, I'll be back to my true form."

She lowered her arm again and looked back up at Vegeta. "This is proof, Vegeta. We Tanarians were and are the greatest warrior race. My true power is double what I'm at now. That's without transformations, without power boosting skills, without any aid at all. My true form is stronger than you are as a Super Sai-jin."

Vegeta was silent for a moment as a breeze blew through the arena. He was contemplating what she'd said and what he felt. She was just about half of his power. He couldn't tell how close exactly, but close enough that he knew her words could hold some truth to them. Still, her natural form may be exceedingly powerful compared to other races but the Sai-jin ability to transform into Super Sai-jins compensated more than enough for that.

"Perhaps." Vegeta said. "But you can not ignore transformations in such a debate either. Super Sai-jin, and even more so the second level of it, compensates for any deficiencies and counters them."

"If you wish to include transformations..." Hotaru began. "Then you must also include power boosting techniques, in which I would then be your superior by an even greater amount. Even were you at the second level." Her smile widened more. "Though luckily for you the Kinryoku doesn't function at high levels in this form, perhaps due to the magic binding it. But... that doesn't mean it doesn't work at all. Nibai Kinryoku!"

Her orange aura vanished in a rush of silver as her muscles expanded slightly. Orange and blue lightning continued to crackle around her as she stood there, silver aura pulsing. In the sky Vegeta frowned slightly. She was, just barely, stronger than him. No matter, it simply made things more interesting. "Well then, round two I suppose?" he asked.

"Ready whenever you are." she replied. 


	15. Royal Rivals

Chapter Fifteen - Royal Rivals

Nova had continued to watch the battle in a shocked silence. She had assumed that the Sai-jin who had defeated Frieza, prior to learning that he was dead, would have been around the twenty-five or thirty million mark by now. But no more. And that no others would be nearly that powerful. And yet here were two fighters well beyond that. They were more than a hundred and fifty million. It was mind boggling. Especially since their friends seemed to be suggesting this wasn't all they could do.

Yamcha suddenly whistled as Hotaru flew up into the air and began to prepare a new attack. "Now she's really getting serious." he said.

As the ground exploded Raditz watched on in shock. "What... was that?"

"Taiyou Inmetsu Hirameki." Yamcha said. "Hotaru came up with it about three years ago. It's complicated as hell to do, I don't even fully understand the mechanics of how to even try doing it. I just know that, somehow, she adds some sort of charge to all of the photons, in other words, the light itself, between her and her target. As a result, all of the photons explode."

Raditz looked over toward the Human and then back down at the battle pit. The dust still hung high in the sky and there was no sign if the battle was still on going. "How the heck does someone come up with something like that?" he wondered.

Yamcha shrugged. "She's always trying to think of new attacks. Developing new techniques is second nature to her. She's got quite a few originals she's developed, probably even more than I've ever seen her use."

By now the battle had resumed again, the dust having been blown away from the warriors. Yamcha cringed a few moments later when Vegeta landed a solid blow to her stomach and then face. Trunks, however, was grinning. "See." he said, looking over to Sakura and Goten. "I told you he couldn't be beaten."

Sakura frowned and looked over to the young prince. "It's not over yet Trunks. See?" She pointed toward her mother who was now on her feet again preparing a new attack. Sakura smiled as her mother's Kameryokuha was launched and met no resistance from Vegeta's counter. "Go mom!" she cried.

"Yeah, go mommy!" Akemi cheered.

But then Vegeta's power began to climb quickly and soon he was pushing back her attack. When she ended it and his attack impacted and exploded Yamcha heard worried gasps from the others but smirked. He'd felt her energy vanish for a moment before the attack had hit, she'd dodged it no problem. He also felt her power churning and shifting. "Now things get interesting." he said as the dust cloud was blasted apart.

Sakura's eyes widened as she sensed the pattern shift to her mother's energy. She jumped off her chair and ran to the window to look down at where her mother was with her own eyes, not the monitors. "No way..." she breathed. By now her mother was hidden inside the orange dome of energy. "She's... she's... transforming..." Her words came out soft, the surprise and awe evident. "Kick his butt mom!" she cried out suddenly, the surprise and awe replaced with pride.

Bulma couldn't help but smile as she looked at the girl. She'd heard the same kind of pride in Trunks' voice before when he'd first witnessed his father's power. Turning her eyes from Sakura to the monitors again she watched as Hotaru's power climbed. It had dropped to her un-enhanced power of 56 million prior to the start of the transformation but had since increased to 190 million and was still going up. But then, as the energy dome and the woman vanished, so did her power.

It only lasted a second and then the numbers came back quickly hitting 224 million. Vegeta's power was holding at 445 million. "Hotaru's amazing." she said softly as the energy around her subsided allowing them to see her new appearance. "I can still remember when we first met her, she wasn't even as powerful as Appla then..."

18 nodded. "Hard to believe I was once so much stronger than her. Than either of them." she said.

"I can still remember..." Gohan began. "Our fight against Recoome. She gave it her all then and yet, still, she hadn't been able to beat him. And now..." he paused as she activated her Kinryoku and then continued. "Now she's even stronger than I am as a Super Sai-jin. And so is Vegeta..."

Nova was listening to the others talking as she tried to absorb the numbers being displayed. She just couldn't fathom powers this high, it was inconceivable! Almost 450 million! How could that even be possible? She turned from the monitors and looked toward Bulma. "What did lord Vegeta mean by the second level of Super Sai-jin?" she asked.

"Oh, you don't know?" Bulma asked. The Changeling shook her head. "Well, there's a second transformation, one after Super Sai-jin. We didn't even know about it until Gohan reached it seven years ago."

The Changeling Queen looked toward Gohan, eyes wide. /Seven years ago he would have only been a child!/ she thought in shock. /And... just how much power does this other transformation give? How much power do these people have?/

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Otherworld, Grand Kai's world

Appla glanced to her right as she felt a familiar power nearing. "Ah, there you are. I was starting to think you'd miss the entire first round."

"Yeah, so was I." the new arrival said with a frown as she took her seat beside the Sai-jin. "You wouldn't believe how much paper work is involved with running Otherworld. Or how much of it the Grand Kai manages to somehow get someone else, usually me, to do for him."

Bardock laughed. "Hey, you were the one that volunteered to help him out, Sora."

The Tanarian sighed. "I know, I know. So, how's the battle gone so far?"

"It's been close thus far." Appla said. "But King Vegeta just powered up to his maximum. Hotaru did well so far but she can't match that. Looks like you got here just in time for..." Appla stopped as the dust cloud around the current Tanarian Queen was blasted apart.

"Hey, is she...?" Goku started, eyes widening a bit as he leaned forward.

"Unbelievable..." Sora breathed. "She's... broken through to the third transformation."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit

The two warriors were little more than blurs, even on the monitors. They'd charged in at each other again and were throwing punches and kicks at incredible speeds. They were dodging at speeds just as great, too. Neither had yet to land a solid hit to the other, every attack over that last minute had been blocked or dodged. And between the two of them there had been more than six hundred attacks.

Seeing that just going head on like this was getting her no where Hotaru changed tactics. She drifted back as she dodged a kick and then she vanished. Vegeta's eyes widened in shock and he stopped mid punch. His mind searched for her energy but he couldn't find it anywhere for several seconds. And then, without warning, it was right behind him. He spun quickly to the left, bringing up his left arm, and just managed to block the kick aimed at his head.

Before he could launch a counter attack she had vanished again. His eyes darted back and forth as his senses searched for her. He had a feeling she'd appear behind him again but at the same time he knew she was smart enough to know he'd be expecting another back attack and would be ready for it. Sure enough her move threw him as, instead of appearing behind or beside her, she appeared in front of him. In the exact same spot she'd left from a moment before.

As soon as she'd appeared she thrust her right arm forward, her hand closed into a fist. The Sai-jin tried to dodge it but the moment's hesitation from the shock was enough for her to catch him. Her fist smashed into his stomach and doubled him over as it also sent him sailing backwards. Again she vanished for a moment and this time appeared behind him by several yards.

As he reached her location her foot snapped out and she kicked him the back knocking him the other way. Once more she teleported, now in front of him again. But this time he had already recovered. Still just beyond her reach he let out a cry and a burst of Ki in all directions. The rush of energy caught her off-guard and knocked her back a little.

It also disrupted her defense and left her open. An opening Vegeta capitalized on by smashing his knee into her stomach. As he moved back his hands grabbed the sides of her head. With a quick jerk he pulled her head down as he thrust his knee up and smashed it into her face. The blow snapped her head back and lifted her higher into the air.

And then his left arm snapped out and smashed into her abdomen. As that arm pulled back his other shot out. He kept up his assault landing twenty-three punches before Hotaru vanished again. This time Vegeta had an idea and he shot off to his right twenty yards. As he pulled to a stop he turned and looked back the way he'd come. An instant later Hotaru appeared there and he smirked.

/So I was right./ he thought. /She decides where she's appearing when she vanishes. It just takes time for her to get there. Which means all I have to do is move in a random direction far enough to avoid her when she comes back again./ His smirk widened as he saw Hotaru scowl and then vanish again. This time he dropped the forty feet to the ground and then looked up. Sure enough she appeared above him, in just the right place she could have attacked had he not moved.

"That wont work anymore." he called up. "I've figured out the weakness to that skill."

"Maybe." Hotaru said, smirking. Vegeta narrowed his eyes a little at that, not sure what she had up her sleeve now. Then his eyes snapped open wide in shock and pain as her foot smashed into the back of his head. As he was flung forward the after image she'd left in the sky vanished. "You were saying?" she asked, still smirking.

Vegeta pulled to a stop and spun around to face Hotaru, scowling. "Quick on your feet, I see." he said as his scowl dissolved into a smirk. He'd been thinking of ending this quickly but now he wasn't so sure. He wanted to see what the girl was capable of. Her power was slightly higher than his and her skill with using techniques to their fullest was perhaps even greater than his own. It was a challenge his Sai-jin blood couldn't refuse.

"You have no idea." she replied, grinning. Then the Tanarian closed her eyes and arched her back a little, her arms going out to her side. At first Vegeta thought she was merely stretching but then an orange glow formed about her and hid her from view. A moment later the glow began to divide as two large orbs split off to either side and stopped a few feet away from her. These divided further into two each leaving five such orbs of energy.

"What the... hell!?" Vegeta cried, his eyes widening. He could feel power from all five of them. Power equal to the Tanarian Queen's full power! /How can that be possible!? Every technique I know of for dividing yourself requires you to split your energy between bodies.../ As he tried to figure it out the glows faded away revealing five Hotaru's, all of them smirking.

Suddenly the right most one lunged in at him and started attacking. He swerved around the swings quickly avoiding her blows as he kept his mind focused on all five of them. He felt two of them moving behind him and suddenly launched up into the air as they charged him, legs extended, intending to kick him in the back of the head. With him missing, however, their feet smacked into the one that had been in front of him and knocked her flying instead.

Vegeta looked up from them as he felt something in front of him. Quickly he moved to the left just barely avoiding a punch aimed for his head. He counted with a kick to her stomach but his foot passed through thin air. "What!? An illusion?!"

The woman before him smirked as her fist snapped out and cracked into his face. The blow only knocked him back a little and didn't pack nearly as much power as he had originally expected. Still, the fact that it HAD hit him was something even more unexpected.

As he recovered and slipped around another punch and then blocked a kick his mind worked on it. /How can she hit me but I can't hit her? How are their five of them with equal power to her actual full power?/ He shot up into the sky and back as he felt three others charging toward him. /Wait, why are only four of them attacking me?/

His mind reached out as his eyes scanned the ground. He found the fifth one a moment later. She was still standing where she had been but her eyes were closed and she was glowing faintly. /Damn, so they ARE illusions! But what kind? I know Tanarian's have mental powers... are these things not even real at all? No, that can't be it, their mental powers aren't that extensive./

His thoughts were cut short by a thunderous crack as a foot smashed into his back and drove him down toward the ground. He let himself plummet all the way down and then thrust his arms down at the last second. He pushed off as he hit, the ground shattering beneath his force, and surged toward Hotaru. The one standing with her eyes closed and glowing. He reached her a moment later and slammed his fist into her face, the blow sending her sailing away.

As she was knocked away he turned and looked toward the other four who he'd felt chasing him. Their images shimmered and then vanished, replaced instead by four small balls of orange energy which dissipated a moment later. Smirking he turned back toward Hotaru again. She'd flipped over in the air and landed on her feet, bending down and sliding along the ground until she stopped.

"Impressive. An illusion of light for a visual distraction. But how did you simulate the energy?" he asked as she stood again.

"Mental energy." she replied. "Mixed in with the Ki designed to produce a pattern your mind would interpret as me. Basically, it tricked you into sensing my ki coming from it when it was only coming from me."

"Ah, so that's why you didn't hide yourself or your power. You couldn't. If you'd lowered your energy then it would have felt like your illusions had as well." Hotaru nodded. Vegeta had to give her credit, she was ingenious when it came to battle tactics. But there was more to a battle than fancy moves. "Too bad all of your tricks have weaknesses."

Hotaru shrugged. "You try moving through the space between planes, it's not easy." she replied. She was grateful for this pause in the battle for conversation though. It gave her time to prepare her next tactic. The Vegeta she'd witnessed in battle before obviously wasn't the one she was fighting. He'd been reckless, careless, and had let his ego and pride cloud his vision. This Vegeta was thoughtful, calculating. Always analyzing his opponent's actions for a new opening to capitalize on.

Which meant to defeat him she would need a move he couldn't prepare for. A move he couldn't see coming. An attack whose weakness he couldn't decipher before it had taken him out. She could only think of one move in her repertoire that she could use without it being noticed, if luck was on her side, and would be capable of knocking out the Sai-jin King. Of course, to have the time to do it would be an issue...

She smirked. She just need to keep him busy and distracted. Which meant it was time to start field testing some techniques she'd developed. First she'd need to divert Vegeta's attention, if he saw her start the attack he might get suspicious. Her hands moved quickly through a series of complex motions as she kept her eyes locked on his. Finally she stopped, raised her arms, and cupped her hands in front of her face making a tunnel to look through. "Shika-Shidou Konmei!" she cried. Her eyes flashed bright orange and then his did the same a second later.

Vegeta let out a loud scream and clamped his hands over his ears as he shut his eyes tight. She wasn't sure exactly what he was experiencing, the technique produced a different effect on different people and when used by different people, but he was definitely distracted. Quickly she shot up high in the air and raised a hand in front of her, cupping it like a claw as she focused. "Ikioi Reikon Ikioidzuku." she said softly.

Energy traced around inside her hand and then a ball of pulsing white and silver energy took form. She smiled as she lowered her hand and let the energy drift up higher into the sky. That done she looked down at Vegeta again. He was recovering from the Konmei now, the grimace of pain on his face was fading. If it weren't for the fact that his mind would be immune to its effects for a few days she'd have used it again to get in a few free shots. Instead she lowered down to his level again and began to create a new set of motions with her hands.

Vegeta shook his head and opened his eyes a second later, his vision was a little blurry still but clearing. The ringing in his ears was gone now, too. As his vision cleared completely he saw Hotaru doing more hand motions. /Why didn't she attack while I was defenseless?/ he wondered. /She could have done some damage at least... perhaps this other move just takes a while to ready and she wanted to make sure I wouldn't interrupt... Well, if that's the case, too bad for her, because I will anyway./ With that he surged in at her.

She saw him coming but wasn't worried. She was ready. Her right arm snapped out to her side as she smiled. "Shika-Shidou Yaiba!" she cried. Blue energy flared up around her hand like a glowing blade and she shot in at Vegeta. She slipped around his punch and then swung her right arm. The glowing blade hit his left thigh and passed right through as though it wasn't there. Vegeta let out a cry of pain and shock as he moved back and grabbed his leg. Hotaru just smirked. 


	16. The Past, Present, and Future

Chapter Sixteen - The Past, Present, and Future

"Oh, wow, look at them go!" Goku cried as he watched the match. "Hotaru's amazing! She's improved so much since the Cell games."

Bardock nodded. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. She's made almost as much improvement as us, without the benefit of being dead."

"It's because of the Cell games." Sora said as she watched her daughter. Hotaru had just teleported and caught Vegeta by surprise from behind.

"What do you mean?" Appla asked.

The Tanarian pursed her lips for a moment before answering. "Hotaru had always had a drive for improving. Pride in her heritage that demanded she make our ancestors proud of her. That surfaced, prior to her awakening, as a resourcefulness in creating new techniques. She developed several Shika-Shidou techniques I saw her use during spars against Sango that she never used again, apparently not finding them useful enough for her tastes.

"She even worked at creating variations of existing moves, such as the Shika-Shidou Bakufuu which was eventually transformed into her Inryoku Chikara. The Shika-Shidou moves Kyoujaku and Iryoku were the basis for her development of the Kinryoku. Another Shika-Shidou technique lead her to the creation of the Kuro Omoi Seichuu.

"Then, as her Awakening drew closer, she began to focus on physical training more and more. She spent days working out, only resting when her body refused to continue, preparing for when she'd be able to start making real gains in power. Once her Awakening came she pushed even harder, determined to catch up to Sango, Akira, and myself."

"Sango's not that much older than her, though." Appla said, interrupting.

"True, only three years difference." Sora replied. "But her Awakening brought about tremendous power in comparison to most. My power climbed to around 4,000 on my Awakening. Hotaru's to only around 750. Sango's, on the other hand, climbed to over 3,000. And I'm not talking about after training during the months when it's easiest. I mean at the exact moment of Awakening. It's not unheard of. Even before the binding of our powers there were those born with powers beyond the normal.

"Anyway, when she came back to Tanaria after the events on Namek she seemed to have found what she'd been looking for. She knew there were others out there, greater than her, but she had surpassed all of us and in less than two years time. I think... she saw that her goal, her dream, wasn't impossible after all. Especially after she transformed against Recoome.

"But then... the Androids. And right from the start she felt like she was being left behind. Like everyone else was making progress, becoming stronger, but she wasn't. She saw what her daughter could do and, though it made her proud, it made her feel like she wasn't good enough too."

"I know that feeling..." Appla said softly.

Sora nodded and continued. "Even after three years of training she didn't come close to comparing to the Androids. And so she used her training in the Room of Spirit and Time to push herself even more. To make herself ready to face them, and to an extent, she did."

"Her attack against Super 13 to help out Sakura and Trunks." Appla said.

"Right. She was able to help them, just a little. But only through the use of the Iryoku and Kameryokuha. Moves created by other people and thus, in her mind, not her own strength."

"I get it." Bardock said. "So after the Cell Games she went back to coming up with new skills?"

"As well as pushing herself harder than I'd ever seen her." the Tanarian replied. "She'd spend an entire day training and practicing, practicing and training." She stopped and laughed a little. "Akemi is actually, in a way, the end result of her finally mastering the creation of the Ikioi Reikon Kougeki."

"Huh?" Goku asked, scratching the back of his head as Bardock and Appla laughed. "I don't get it..." This only made the two Sai-jins laugh harder.

Sora just returned her full focus back to the match. By now Hotaru had used her Konmei and had just stopped in her upward flight. "Well, speak of the devil." she said as she saw energy gathering in Hotaru's hand.

"What is it?" Bardock asked.

"She's preparing the move I told you about." she replied. "The Ikioi Reikon Kougeki."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Battle Pit

The Tanarian royal charged in again, her right arm held across her chest ready for another slice. Vegeta was still recovering from the last attack, it felt like his leg muscle was trying to cramp up which was making it hard to focus. He did his best to push the pain aside as he saw her coming. At the last second he dodged her swipe, the edge of the blade slicing a couple centimeters of hair off the top of his head as he slipped under her reach.

As he came up he launched an uppercut with his left arm using the momentum of his rise to add to the force of the blow. It slammed into her abdomen with a loud crack and she froze, eyes wide in pain. The Sai-jin capitalized on the moment by drifting back a little and then launching up into the air jamming his knee into her jaw.

The blow snapped her head back, lifted her into the air for a moment, and then dropped her onto her back. She rolled to her right and Vegeta's energy blast impacted the ground just missing her. Standing back up she spat some of the blood in her mouth onto the ground before facing the other royal again.

The light around her right hand faded slightly and she put her hands together and did another set of motions with them. "Shika-Shidou... Yaiba!" she cried holding out her left arm. A blade of energy formed around that hand as well as the one on her right returned. In a flash of silver she shot in at Vegeta again and launched another swing.

Vegeta dodged around her right arm, deflected her left at her elbow being careful not to touch the blade, and then countered with a kick toward her stomach. She thrust her left arm down and smacked her palm into his ankle deflecting it. The Sai-jin cried out in pain and pulled back. It felt like his ankle had just been crushed but the pain was fading already, faster than that in his leg.

His eyes snapped wide as he dodged backwards just barely avoiding another slice from her energy blades. He started swerving left and right, up and down, backward and forward, dodging around her swings as quickly as he could. Meanwhile his mind worked on a way of countering this move. Attacking her was out of the question, if she blocked or took a swipe at his outstretched limb she could easily do more damage than him.

Blocking her was definitely out of the question as well. Any kind of contact with those blades did damage and hurt like hell. That didn't leave him many options. And then a thought hit him. What if he blocked WITHOUT touching her or the blades? As he swerved around another swipe he smirked and then brought his arms up in an x across his body. Golden energy flared up around them a second before her blades hit.

There was an odd snapping sound as the energies came in contact with each other, as well as a flash of light, but no pain. Vegeta grinned more as he lowered his arms and the energy along them turned into energy blades of his own. Hotaru scowled at him and took another swing. His left arm came up and blade met blade, stalemating. They pulled back and swung again, blades clashing and deflecting each other.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box

"Oh, wow, look at them go." Krillin said as the two began racing through the sky swinging and dodging. "This is... amazing. Either one of them could give Cell a real run for his money if they fought him now."

Gohan nodded. "Even his stronger form, after Sakura's self-destruct attack." he said. "They'd be out classed power wise but their form and skill is great enough it could balance it out. Fighting them both at once, Cell wouldn't have had a chance. Hotaru's really improved..."

"That happens when you spend nearly every waking moment training." Yamcha said. "I've done more of the business of running Tanaria in the last seven years than her. She's focused on her training almost exclusively, verging on obsession really. She hated how much she'd fallen behind leading up to the Cell Games and was determined to catch up and surpass everyone else again. Her pride demanded it."

Raditz laughed. "And here I'd thought Sai-jin pride was the only one that could border on the fanatical."

Nova was still in a mild state of shock at the powers she was seeing. Hearing mention again of Cell drew her attention. She'd heard that name several times now, in connection to past events that were related to their current powers. "How did... everyone get so powerful?" she asked, looking toward the others. "And just who is this Cell I keep hearing about?"

"He was a creation of a man named Dr. Gero." Mijima said, her face still pointed toward the window but her eyes turned toward the Changeling. "About ten years ago two time travelers came back from the future to warn Goku and the others about the return of the Red Ribbon Army..."

"Goku? Red Ribbon Army?"

It was Roshi that picked up from there. "Goku was the one who defeated Frieza on Namek while the Red Ribbon Army was once a military power on Earth that he took out as a boy. Dr. Gero was one of their scientists and he became obsessed with defeating Goku after that. He set about creating powerful Androids and Cyborgs..."

"Including my sister and I." Gainin interrupted.

Roshi nodded. "Yes. And then they took over the entire galaxy. Trunks and Sakura were the last of us left to fight them and they came back to warn us about them. Thanks to that warning we had three years to prepare for them."

"Only things didn't go as planned." Bulma said with a shake of her head. "Goku was still out matched, as was everyone. So we retreated to the Earth's lookout..." seeing the confusion on Nova's face she explained. "It's the place from which each planet's Guardian oversees their world."

"Ah. I know of such a place on my world." she said. "But it has been abandoned for thousands of years."

Piccolo nodded. "My... counterpart had been Guardian of Earth for a few hundred years, and then another Namek took over after he and I merged."

"Namekian Fusion." the Changeling said in understanding. "I've heard of it. I just had no idea it produced such impressive results."

"Piccolo's fused twice." Gohan explained. "And he's not your typical Namek anyway. Long story best told later and not important to the question at hand anyway."

Nova nodded. "So, you retreated to the lookout?"

"Yes." Bulma said. "And used a room there were a year passes in a single day for training. Vegeta, Trunks, Hotaru, and Sakura went in first. While they were in there Cell appeared. He, like Trunks and Sakura, was from the future. But not the same future, a completely different future where the Sai-jin Empire didn't exist since Frieza had wiped out almost all Sai-jins decades ago."

To Bulma's surprise the Changeling Queen didn't seem too surprised or confused about this so she pressed on. "He was designed to absorb Gainin and Mijima here to become stronger. Eventually he absorbed them both."

"So your power now was in response to the threat of this Cell." she said in understanding.

"Partly." Videl said. "We're all a lot stronger now than we were then."

"Mainly because there is another threat waiting out there." Piccolo said.

"Another threat? You got another warning?" asked Nova.

"Not exactly." the Namek replied. "We've known for a long time, since around the time Zarbon came to Earth, that there is a conspiracy out there. Someone has been preparing for an invasion of the entire galaxy for a long time, someone with the ability to boost the powers of their soldiers. The only name we have to go with this so far is..."

"Raven." Nova said, eyes widening a bit.

"You know of her?" Gohan asked, shocked.

The Changeling nodded. "I do. The name has come up several times on multiple worlds. It appears in records as far back as Tundra's rule more than fifteen hundred years ago. We'd find worlds where the name would appear on occasion, including one world that claimed its destruction was her doing. And on several occasions mention was made of her being from the future and that she was creating herself a new empire here in our time."

She furrowed her brow a bit in thought as she tried to remember something. "There were two terms that came up in connection with her. The world that was destroyed said it had been attacked for its resources..."

"Tanaria and Earth were as well." Yamcha said. "Between Frieza's defeat and the warning about the Androids. Only we managed to drive them off."

Nova nodded. "They said the resources were for... for..."

"A Tree of Might?" Piccolo asked, remembering Bardock's explanation of Sanil's sudden power increase during their battle.

"Yes. That was it." she said. "The other term that came up was... Shugotenshi."

"Never heard of that before." Gohan said.

"We should tell Vegeta about this after his match." said Bulma.

"Yeah." Gohan agreed. "Man, over fifteen hundred years ago? Are you sure?" he asked the Changeling. She nodded. "So then, why are they not just attacking? Why have they just been doing things from behind the scenes all this time?"

"I don't know." said Piccolo, scowling. "But I don't like it. They must be waiting for something or preparing for something specific. Being that they're from the future they undoubtedly have knowledge of things to come."

"But if they've been around and interacting with us for the last fifteen hundred years..." Videl began. "Surely things are different between our times now. Enough that things wouldn't match up."

"Don't be so sure." said Bulma. "Don't forget what Cell said. He knew of Goku and the rest of us, save for Hotaru and Sakura. And even his timeline had seen a Trunks from the future as well. Our time and his share some pretty strong similarities and his timeline wasn't affected by Raven."

"How can you be so sure of that?" asked Nova.

"Well..." Bulma began. "The differences between our time and his start much further back than he or Trunks and Sakura could have caused. And obviously, the Trunks who appeared in his time couldn't have altered the past of either time-line causing the differences either."

"Ah, I see." Nova said. "So you think it is the presence of Raven that has allowed the Sai-jin empire to remain and flourish?"

"Most likely. I can't say if it was intentional or not. Considering that her people warned other worlds of the Sai-jins, even threatened them into not siding with them, I don't think it was entirely intentional. Then again, I don't know if those warnings were for the benefit of the Sai-jin people somehow either. It's hard to call."

"It's pretty remarkable when you think about it." Krillin said. "The similarities, I mean. Think about it. They've been altering things for fifteen hundred years, at least. And yet we all still exist here and now. Their changes didn't stop us from being pretty much the same as without them..."

Piccolo suddenly got a sinking feeling, a tight knot in his gut, as a thought came to him that he didn't like the implications to. "Damn..." he whispered.

"What is it, Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

"A thought." he said, turning to face the others. "An unpleasant one. What if Raven and her mate have manipulated the course of time to their own ends but have made sure to keep us here?"

"What? But why would they do that?" Yamcha asked. "Why would they want us to be here? I mean, if they're out to take over wouldn't we be their biggest threats?"

"Or they're using us." Piccolo said, turning to face the battle pit again. "Think about it. Frieza, Cold, Cooler, and the Androids and Cell. Even Slug and Recoome."

"But... Zarbon, Slug, and Recoome, they attacked us!" Krillin cried.

Piccolo nodded. "Yes, they did. But look at the big picture. Zarbon forced us to become stronger and pushed us on to Namek where we defeated Frieza and gained even more power. Slug and Recoome gave us even greater power. Frieza's defeat on Namek lead to the downfall of his entire family."

Gohan swallowed as Piccolo's picture fell into place in his mind. "Zarbon, Frieza, Slug, Recoome... all for the purpose of making us more powerful... to fight the Androids."

"But Trunks and Sakura had to come back to warn us, to help us." Yamcha said.

"Yes." Piccolo said with a nod. "But then, Raven would have known that already, wouldn't she?"

Yamcha's eyes widened. "Oh man..."

"They want us here for something." Piccolo said. "They gave Slug and I our power for a reason, they preserved the Nameks when Frigid came for a reason. They've kept the Sai-jin Empire around for a reason. They've made sure we came into existence, made sure we kept getting stronger... Somehow, we must feature into their plans."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Unknown Location

Ravenna arched an eyebrow as she listened to the conversation in the V.I.P. box. Nova and the others had begun to compare notes on her mother a little while ago and now the Namek had pieced a good bit of it together. "He's smarter than he looks." she said.

"Even I'm impressed." Razor said from where he stood beside Raven. "I didn't expect any of them to piece together their involvement in our plans. Even to this minor extent. Still, it's not like it matters in the end."

Raven's mate nodded. "You're right, it doesn't matter. Even if they were to figure out how they fit, why they fit, there's nothing they could do about it. Especially not this close to the end."

"I've learned not to underestimate them..." Ravenna said, turning from the monitors to look back at her parents. "But I still don't think it's wise to use this plan."

"Still worried they can't beat him?" Raven asked.

Ravenna nodded and her father laughed. "I'm not surprised by your skepticism." he said. "Those on Planet Vegeta are powerful, though Gohan's slacked off too much in his training to make the gains I'd hoped he would, but they don't match the threat that's coming, do they?"

"No, they don't." Ravenna replied. She couldn't see why her father thought these people would win when even he admitted they weren't ready yet. They'd witnessed the power possessed by the coming danger first hand, when it had been sealed away nearly two thousand years ago. An event that had killed one of the two Supreme Kais of the time. None of these people were comparable to his power.

"It's not them we're banking on." Razor said, smiling. "You see, this threat, it's great enough the Kais will throw everything they have at it."

Ravenna blinked and then realization struck her. "Goku..." 


	17. The First Round Concludes

Chapter Seventeen - The First Round Concludes

Hotaru cried out in pain, her flight through the air sharply changing course as she spun out of control. She slammed into the ground, hard, a moment later and rolled nearly forty yards before coming to a stop. The energy around her hands faded as she started to push herself up. She cried out again as she put pressure on her right arm and fell back to the ground.

Rolling onto her back she put her left hand over her right arm and looked up into the sky. Vegeta floated up there, several hundred feet up, looking down at her and panting heavily. Both of them were tiring. They still had plenty of power left but it was starting to decline. Their most recent exchange had definitely helped with that. Ten mintues of flying around swinging and dodging and constantly sustaining energy blades was a tiring and draining endeavor.

She moved her eyes a little to look toward her attack. She couldn't see it too well, it wasn't an obvious thing. The attack, even at the high levels of power it had now, was never very large. Currently it was about the size of a basketball which meant it looked like little more than a speck to her right now. It wasn't quite ready yet, it still needed more time to charge.

The Tanarian lifted her hand off her arm and looked at it. Her palm was stained red. By the ammount of blood on her arm she figured his blade had served an artery on its last pass. No matter, she'd just finished sealing up the injury so she didn't have to worry about blood loss now. Taking a deep breath she worked out a new tactic in her mind. She just needed to stall, buy herself time...

She scowled as Vegeta started diving toward her. Apparently he'd gotten enough of his breath back to resume the match. Quickly she brought her arms up, hands in front of her, and started through another set of motions. "Shika-Shidou..." she said as she finished and then thrust them up, pointing her palms at the Sai-jin. "Mizu Taihou!"

The air above and around her shimmered and she felt her clothes dampen. A second later a torrent of water exploded from in front of her hands and surged up at Vegeta. The Sai-jin thrust his arms down and met the water head on. He slammed into the stream and began pushing against it. She scowled more realizing she didn't have enough water or pressure to hold him off.

/So where do I get more... ah.../ she smiled and reached out with her energy, spread the influence of her technique down into the ground. Instantly the air around her grew more damp as the ground water started coming up. She reached in deeper and deeper trying to draw as much as possible. And then she found it, about a hundred feet down, an aquifer. She punched into it, drawing forth its water, and her attack swelled in size and surged in force.

"What!?" Vegeta cried as he felt it pushing him back. /Damn it, it's just water!/ his mind growled. With a cry golden energy flashed around his hands and then a stream of it surged down into the stream pushing it away as it proceeded down. The Sai-jin smirked but the still prone Tanarian scowled.

Vegeta's attack was only feet away now but she finally had a plan. Suddenly she vanished, her attack ending, and then his energy blast impacted and exploded. She reappeared a moment later only a few dozen feet from where she'd been, but now standing. Vegeta noticed her instantly but she didn't care, her hands were already moving. "Gah, would you cut it out with those!" he cried, scowling.

She smirked. If the others had annoyed him... "Shika-Shidou... Kage Genkaku!" Suddenly she vanished from sight. Vegeta's eyes widened. He could still sense her... for a moment. And then her energy was gone too. He started looking around for some sign of her. Any sign. But there was nothing.

"What the hell?" he wondered. /If it's a teleportation technique... where is she?/ he thought. /And if it's not... what is it?/

Hotaru looked up at Vegeta from where she floated, just a couple feet above the ground. She had her power suppressed as much as possible while still allowing flight. She drifted backward slowly, she didn't dare go fast or she might put out enough energy for him to sense. She'd figured he'd never refined his ki sensing to pick up low powers, instead sufficing with detecting the big and obvious ones. She didn't know how low big and obvious was, though, and didn't want to push it.

So it took her nearly three minutes to get into place. Vegeta was still where she'd left him, scowling, and looking around him intently. As she touched down and let her power slip even lower she saw him close his eyes, apparently planning to focus to find a lower power. No matter. She only needed a couple more moments and she'd be ready.

She put her arms down at her sides and channeled energy into them. Small amounts, to stay under his radar. She could amplify the power of the move at the last instant before using it. Slowly she raised her arms up and out until they were above her head, fingers touching. She'd formed almost a complete circle with them and the thin band of energy she'd made expanded around her and transformed into a bubble.

Suddenly Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he turned to look right at her. /Damn, almost there!/ she thought. Now that he'd found her she had no reason to stay hiding and left her energy shoot up. As it did she channeled power into the bubble around her. The sudden increasing in power caused her Kage Genkaku to fail, revealing her to his eyes again. By now he was already charging at her.

Quickly she pointed her arms toward him. "That's far enough Vegeta!" she cried, smirking. "Fuujikomeru!" The bubble around her flashed and then surged forward. The Sai-jin pulled to a stop and crossed his arms and brought up his legs to block, the bubble looking like a large energy ball. But it didn't explode on contact. Instead, it swallowed him up.

The bubble stopped moving once he was in its center. Lowering his arms and his legs he looked around in shock. "What the hell? What is this?"

"My Fuujikomeru." Hotaru said, smiling. "The perfect prison."

Vegeta scowled and thrust his arms out, golden energy surging forth and impacting the inside of the bubble. The energy hit and spread out covering nearly half the surface area. He quickly realized its force was being dissipated and scattered along the surface so he ended it. "Impressive, I suppose. But what does this achieve? You can't attack me any better than I can attack you."

"True." she replied. "But then again, I don't need to. Not just yet." Slowly she floated up into the air and felt out for her gathering attack. Almost ready. The power Vegeta had lost in the battle worked to her advantage now, she didn't need to wait as long since she didn't need to charge it as much. She reached eye level with him and arched her back causing her spine to pop and crack. Still she continued up. "It's been fun, Vegeta. But now it ends."

Vegeta scowled as he watched her ascent. /What is she planning?/ he wondered. As his eyes followed her he spotted a small speck of light in the sky. At first he thought it was just the first star of the night but realized it couldn't be. It wasn't late enough yet. So he focused his mind on it and soon sensed it. It was high up there, higher than the top of the stadium, and it was powerful. /When did she... how did she.../ he wondered, eyes widening in surprise.

Hotaru stopped in her ascent and raised her right arm up. The energy sparkled and floated down into her palm. It was the size of a beach ball now. But its size was misleading. It was a tightly compacted ball of energy. A whole lot of power jammed into not a lot of space. As she lowered her arm and pointed the energy at him, bracing that arm at the wrist with her other arm, he raised his own arms and prepared to defend. There was nothing else he could do.

"Looks like I win." she said, smiling. "Ikioi Reikon Kougeki!" The sphere of energy flashed brightly and then surged down at its target at incredible speed. It hit the exterior of the energy bubble a second later and the bubble popped. And then it slammed into Vegeta's outstretched arms. It wasn't as powerful as it could be, she'd intentionally kept it weak so as not to accidentally kill him, he could tell.

Still, it drove him down into the ground quickly. As his feet touched he used the extra leverage to his advantage and started to push back against the attack in earnest. Meanwhile Hotaru thrust both of her arms down toward it adding her own force to try and drive it down. The Sai-jin cursed under his breath. He'd not wanted to reveal his full power so soon, not until his match with Gohan. But it was looking like he wouldn't be able to beat Hotaru without it.

Suddenly he felt the pressure from the attack let up some and looked up through the sparking blue, silver, green, and orange energy at where Hotaru floated. She'd pulled her arms back and was charging an energy blast in her hands. Most likely with the intent of detonating the energy bomb he was struggling against. /Damn, I guess I really don't have a choice./ he thought.

He let out a loud cry, a burst of power washing out around him, as she thrust her arms down flinging the orange ball of energy at him. The two attacks impacted a moment later, the Ikioi Reikon Kougeki swelled up quickly and then exploded. However, the roar of the explosion was soon over ridden by the roar of Vegeta's voice. The dome of energy that had formed by the exploding attacks was blasted apart by a flash of gold.

When the glare subsided Hotaru's eyes widened. Vegeta still stood where he'd been, the ground under his feet fine but that around him for a hundred yards was carved out into a crater. He didn't seem any worse for the attack that had just hit... and blue lightning sparked around his aura. Suddenly the Sai-jin King smirked. "You lose." he said, vanishing. There was a thunderous crack an instant later as he re-appeared, knee buried in her stomach.

She floated there for a second as her aura flickered and then vanished. And then she fell to the ground unconscious. Vegeta floated down and landed a few feet away, his hair and eyes turning black again, as the countdown started. Not wanting any surprises he stayed there, watching her, until the count finished, and then turned and made his way back to the competitors area.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, V.I.P. Box

"No way!" Krillin cried moving over to the window and leaning forward to look up at Hotaru. She'd just brought her attack down into her hand. "When did she have the time to make that!?"

Yamcha laughed. "She's been generating that since right after she used the Shika-Shidou Konmei." he said as she launched it. "Well, that's the match. Looks like the finals have been decided, Gohan vs. Hotaru."

"No, no way dad can loose!" Trunks cried.

Krillin stumbled back and fell over as the arena shook from the explosion of the attack. As he climbed to his feet again he heard Vegeta's voice and looked. And then everyone's eyes widened in shock as they felt his power surge up. "N-no way..." Krillin breathed as he looked down at Vegeta again. "He's... he can..."

Nova looked up toward the power reading for Vegeta. It had, a moment before, read 392,946,723 but now it stood at 797,893,446. "Unbelievable..." she said softly, as Hotaru fell to the ground unconscious.

"I can't believe it... Vegeta unlocked the second level..." Gohan said slowly.

"Looks like you'll actually have to try to win now." Vadora said, smirking.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

H.F.I.L.

Two figures stood atop a tall spire of rock within the H.F.I.L. gazing about at everything around them. "I've lost the power we were tracking." the taller one said as he looked down at his companion.

"As have I." she replied. "It troubles me that we lost it here. Only the Kais and the Oni should be capable of crossing the barrier between Otherworld and the H.F.I.L. like that. And I worry that we lost the power because it went deeper, down into Hell. The one place in this realm we cannot go."

Kibito nodded. "Where should we go from here?" he asked.

The woman pursed her lips in thought as she gazed about her and then turned her eyes to the golden clouds above. "There is nothing more we can do here. We should return to Otherworld. I believe the other Kais are gathered on the world of the Grand Kai currently. I think it is time to speak with them about this. Perhaps all of us together can determine something." Kibito nodded again and then both vanished.

Once they were gone a figure slowly slipped out from behind a rock out cropping. The being was female. She had short, near vertical, spiky red hair, dark purple skin, and black eyes with white irises and black pupils. She wore a dark blue gi with a black belt and no shoes. She watched the point where the two Kais had been standing for a moment before turning and looking off to her right. /So even they sense what is coming./ she thought.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing. -My lord, do you hear me?- she asked telepathically.

-Yes, I hear you Nefaria.- came the deep voiced reply, echoing inside her mind.

-I ran into a pair of Kais and lost the target while trying to avoid detection. What should I do now?-

-We cannot stop this without first locating the Blood Crystal.- the voice replied. -It must be in the H.F.I.L. somewhere, that is where we fought him. You will need to search for it on your own. With luck you'll sense one of them again and can tail them.-

-Yes, my lord.- she replied, opening her eyes and flying off.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet

The Grand Kai straightened up as he felt a pair of powers appear behind him. Two powers he'd not sensed in many centuries. The tournament in the Mortal Plane had just come to a close for the day and the one in Otherworld was gearing up to begin, though this first round wouldn't be as entertaining as the one in the Mortal Plane. "I'll be right back." he said to the other Kais as he stood and made his way back into the building behind where they sat.

"I thought that was you." he said closing the door behind him. "Kibito, Mikomi." he said to them, bowing to each. "What brings you to my world?"

"Something unsettling I'm afraid." Mikomi said. As she spoke the Grand Kai realized things truly weren't good. He could hear in her voice none of her usual cheeriness or playfulness. She may have, at one time, been the oldest of the Supreme Kais, but she had always been the most child like of them at heart.

"We tracked a power." Kibito explained. "From within Otherworld and into the H.F.I.L., through the barriers."

Mikomi nodded. "Yes. And then there's the matter of the tears between planes. As well as the disturbance we felt earlier today. I am... worried... that something is coming."

"You are worried that Buu is free again." the Grand Kai said, more than asked. "I can assure you that he is not. In fact, I can assure you that it is highly unlikely he will be any time soon. Not only is Bibidi dead but so, too, is his son Babidi. Killed some centuries ago in fact.

"Beyond that, the Earth is now under the protection of some of the most powerful mortals to ever live. They do not quite compare to the Tanarians that once nearly destroyed Buu but the Earth is in good hands just the same."

Mikomi smiled. "Thank-you, Zenryou." she said. "But this only makes me wonder what it could be then."

Zenryou stroked his beard in thought. "I do not know. I had not even sensed that anything was amiss. Then again, I have been occupied lately with matters here so it is not surprising. I wouldn't worry too much though." he said. "As I said, the Earth is now home to warriors near equal to the once great Tanarians. And there are others on other worlds that are quite powerful as well, quite powerful. If there is some evil approaching the Mortal Plane has never been more ready for it than it is now."

"I can only hope that you are right." she said. 


	18. A Matter of Succession

A/N: This one doesn't seem to match the quality of previous chapters in my mind, but there's nothing I can do about that. :x

Chapter Eighteen - A Matter of Succession

Vegeta made his way up to the V.I.P. box upon returning to the arena interior. He had need to speak with Nova and arrange some sort of measures to ensure her presence didn't cause them grief. By the time he got there the kids had all left already. "When did you..." Gohan started.

The Sai-jin royal smirked. "Two years ago." he said.

"More importantly." Piccolo said, noticing that the Sai-jin was going to start gloating. "While you and Hotaru were fighting we had an interesting conversation with Queen Nova. Seems the Changelings have records mentioning Raven that reach back fifteen hundred years."

Vegeta glanced toward the Changeling before making his way over to the window and looking out into the battle pit. Raven. That name had been haunting him lately, because it was the only one of the two he knew. That nightmare... He'd had it five times in the last twenty days. Twelve times in the last ten months. Eighteen times since the Cell Games. The increasing frequency... he didn't much care for it.

"Any new information on her?" he asked at last.

"Unfortunately not." the Namek replied. "But... I have a suspicion that they've been guiding us."

"What?" the Sai-jin asked, scowling, as he looked toward the Namek.

"They know the future." he explained. "And they've altered the past enough that we shouldn't have even been born. But here we are, and from what we learned through Cell, without any real differences from what he knew. They could have stopped Zarbon from attacking Earth. Stopped Slug and Recoome from attacking Earth and Tanaria..."

"But they didn't." Vegeta said, getting what the Namek was at. "They let them come, instigated a need for us to become stronger... all just in time for the Androids when they knew already that Trunks would come and give us warning to further prepare."

"Exactly."

Vegeta snorted. "Well, keeping us around will be their last mistake." he said turning. "Right now, though, I want to deal with something more pressing." He turned his eyes to Nova. "We'll need to..."

"King Vegeta!" Mellona's voice sounded from the com system on the wall, obviously worried about something.

Vegeta made his way over to the com panel and pressed the button. "What is it?"

"A Changeling energy signature." Mellona replied. "Near the south ex..." her voice was cut off by a startled gasp as a loud explosion sounded. The Arena shook with the force of it at Vegeta's end but Mellona barely felt the tremor at her end.

"Noted." Vegeta replied with a growl as he turned from the panel. "It seems Kuriiza's finally decided to say hello."

As he made his way toward the door Nova stood. "I would like to come as well. It is my responsibility..." Vegeta glanced toward her and then nodded. She left behind most of her disguise, only donning the long hooded robe, and followed him out into the halls, the others right behind. There were a few more explosions as they went, each one deepening the scowl on Vegeta's face.

As they emerged from the building they found five of the arena's security personnel down and a wide circle of spectators standing around a short figure covered by a hooded purple cloak, the face hidden in shadows. "Ah, Vegeta." the figure said, his voice sounding like a slightly deeper version of Frieza's. "This should be fun."

Vegeta was about to say something but an arm came up in front of him as Nova looked at him. "May I?" The Sai-jin was silent for a moment and then nodded. She turned from him and stepped forward. "Kuriiza! Your family's rule has come to an end!"

"And just who are you?" Kuriiza demanded.

Nova reached up and slipped back her hood which drew grasps from the crowd around them. "I am Nova." she said. "The new Changeling Queen. Your claim to the throne is denied, Kuriiza. Your father, uncle, and grandfather are dead!"

Kuriiza reached up and pulled back his own hood now revealing a face Vegeta hadn't seen since he was a child. Kuriiza looked nearly exactly like Frieza in his first form. The only difference was a small pointed bump on the top of his head, almost like another horn. This drew even more gasps. "You dare defy my family!?" Kuriiza cried, angrily. "We are the greatest Changelings, the true masters of this universe!"

"You are nothing!" Nova shouted back. "You are nothing more than a pathetic imitation of your ancestors."

"How dare you!" Kuriiza cried, a burst of Ki washing out from around him. Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. It seemed Kuriiza had inherited his father's temper and Nova knew just what buttons to push to agitate him. "I am of the royal blood, descended from the greatest Changelings to ever live. Frigid, Cold, and Frieza! You... you are nothing! No Changeling, especially not a woman, could hope to match my family!"

Nova chuckled. "Yes, Changeling women aren't as powerful as the men. Our physiology difference includes being naturally weaker. And yet, I am the strongest Changeling alive. The Changeling people are tired of your family, tired of your rule, and we will not allow it to continue! We will not allow you to destroy our lives any more, and I will not allow you to further lower our image in the eyes of the galaxy!"

"I have heard enough of your treason!" Kuriiza cried, lifting into the air. As he did his power shot up from its former level. As the Changeling charged in at Nova her power shot up as well and she threw off her robe and brought her arms up to block. There was a loud crack and a bright flash as his fist met her arm. The blow slid Nova back only a foot and then she stopped. Kuriiza's eyes widened in shock.

Nova smirked. "More than you expected? I'm not even started yet!" she threw her arms back and left out a cry as her bright blue aura flared up around her. The rush of power knocked Kuriiza back a dozen yards where he landed with a scowl. The swirling energy quickly shredded the dress she'd been wearing revealing the rest of her body.

The purple stripes that came down from her eyes ran down her neck and upper body and under the red exoskeletal armor on her upper torso. The armor ended just above her rib cage and apparently the stripes merged into one as only a single stripe ran down, over the middle of her body, across her abdomen and down under more red exoskeletal armor that protected her hips and upper legs. The stripe emerged again behind her, directly over her spine, and ran all the up her back until it ended at the red plate atop her head. She also had red glass like plates on her shoulders, forearms, and shins.

From his limited knowledge of Changeling physiology Vegeta knew that the exoskeletal armor could be called at will and wasn't a permanent fixture to their bodies, at least not in their first forms. It was this ability to form or remove their natural armor that had earned them their names, even before knowledge of their transformations had been known. The appearance of the armor on Nova was proof that she wasn't going to back down from Kuriiza and he could tell the other Changeling knew that by the scowl on his face.

Vegeta's attention was drawn back to Nova as red glow caught his eye. Looking he saw the armor glowing and moving, expanding. And as it grew so too did her power. It was a slow increase at the moment, barely noticeable, but there. Which meant only one thing. She was transforming. /I should have figured, there's no way a Changeling female could be the strongest without being able to transform. Still, the power she has in even her first form exceeds what most male Changelings have when transformed... who, exactly, is she?/

Along with the exoskeletal armor over her torso and hips the glass like plates began to glow and expand as well. The expansion rate was increasing quickly and in a matter of moments her entire body was covered in red. Her feet, originally like those of a Sai-jin or Human, changed. The foot widened and two pairs of toes on each foot merged, giving her only three, which were twice the length and width of her original toes.

Her horn nubs grew out to half a foot and then hooked up vertically, went about two inches, and then stopped where they were broken and filed down at. Lastly, she'd grown more than a foot and was now slightly taller than Vegeta instead of almost a head shorter. Finally her cries died down and her blue aura subsided. Her body was now completely red, not even the purple from before remained. "I am the new ruler of the Changeling people." she said evenly. "There is no place for you among us Kuriiza, leave!"

Kuriiza growled. "I will show you true power!" Kuriiza cried as he hunched over and let out a scream. His purple aura flared up around him suddenly and his arms and legs began to ripple. And then his horns began to grow as he started to grow taller and taller. Neither Vegeta or Nova were overly surprised that he could transform. At least, not until his head began to extend backwards.

Nova took a step back as the ground shook and Kuriiza's body continued to transform. And then glowing snaking cracks began to form across his body. "No... way..." she said in quiet shock. "He can... reach the fourth form already!?" There was a bright and blinding flash acompained by an explosion a second later and then the shaking stopped. Vegeta growled and scowled as he got a look at the Changeling again. Save for the pointed lump on the top of his head, and being about half a head shorter, he looked exactly like Frieza.

"You see now what you face?" Kuriiza asked, smirking. "I have already matched my father!" With that he launched in at Nova and slammed his fist into her face. The blow launched her backwards into the arena with a crash destroying the entrance.

"Enough!" Vegeta growled as he moved in front of Kuriiza. "You may have matched your father in appearance." he said. "But you don't even match Cooler's power in that form. You are still a weakling."

"I am the greatest!" Kuriiza said, smirking. "Just like my father."

"Your father was pathetic. Even Cooler surpassed him in the end."

"Why you...!"

Kuriiza was about to charge in at the smirking Sai-jin King when Nova's voice cut through the air again. "Kuriiza!" The Changeling stopped and looked passed Vegeta as the Sai-jin turned to look too. Nova was walking back out of the arena brushing dirt off of her but not looking much worse for the blow she'd taken. She floated a couple inches up off the ground, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and then crossed her arms over her chest, her fists pressed against her shoulders.

Suddenly she threw her arms, legs, and head back and let out a cry. Her blue aura flared up around her as the ground, once again, began to quake. And her power climbed. At first Vegeta thought she was transforming again but then he noticed her muscles expanding. The muscles in her arms and legs became more defined as her limbs expanded about fifty percent in size. Her torso and neck expanded some as well to make room for the energy.

Finally her power up stopped and she touched down again and lowered her head to look at Kuriiza. Her muscles hadn't bulked up as much as Vegeta had first thought but they were clearly larger. And her power had quadrupled. Still, she wasn't quite as powerful as the other Changeling. "Alright Kuriiza." she said. "Let's settle this!" In a burst of blue she surged in at him.

She caught him off guard with a hard right hook to the face that knocked him flying toward the gathered crowd. They parted quickly to let him pass but he managed to stop himself before reaching them. With a growl and flash of purple he surged in at Nova again. She brought her right arm up, deflected his kick, and then countered with a punch he blocked. She threw another punch and it connected with his stomach and knocked him back a little.

She moved to follow it up with a kick but he slipped around it, spun, and smashed his tail into the side of her head knocking her away. As she flew through the air blue energy sparked around her feet and then a wave of energy surged out at the chasing Kuriiza. The Changeling swerved around it to the right and found his target missing. A loud crack sounded as she dropped down from above, smashed her foot into his back, and slammed him into the ground.

He slid for nearly two dozen yards, carving out a trench in the ground, before stopping. As he started to stand back up Nova landed at the opposite end of the trench. "Your power will do you no good without skill." she said. "You have, what, 22 years of combat experience? Meanwhile I have 201 years experience."

"You've been training all that time?" Kuriiza asked as he stood, scowling.

Nova nodded slowly, smiling lightly. "Every heir to my family has trained, some. Never extensively, and never for power, only prowess in battle. We have been biding our time, waiting for fate to give us our opportunity to correct the mistakes of past rulers with as little bloodshed as possible."

"So, you admit to not only defying Changeling law that has stood for thousands of years and training, but also to centuries of treason?" Kuriiza asked, smirking. "When we finish here I will have you executed in the name of my family."

"I see little chance of that." Nova said. "I see little chance of you leaving this world alive, even if you were to defeat me. Your grandfather's jammers have prevented us from knowing much of the galaxy beyond the former borders of the Cold Empire. Things out here have changed since your family ruled. Changed considerably."

Vegeta knew what she meant, even if Kuriiza didn't. She was referencing the powers she'd witnessed. Many beyond her or Kuriiza, almost as many beyond the rest of the Cold family. Well beyond. "She's right, you know." he said. "The galaxy you knew before Cold went to Earth is not the same galaxy as what exists now."

Nova glanced back at the Sai-jin and then turned her attention toward the other Changeling again. "End this, your only chance for survival is to leave peacefully."

Kuriiza laughed. "So, you think you can kill me?" he asked, smirking.

"I could. But I wont." she replied. "Because our code forbids it. I am already breaking the codes enough as it is with this battle."

"What are you talking about? The code is against women training, not against actual fighting."

"I do not mean that code." she replied, smiling. "I have long since discarded it as worthless to me. A Queen must do what a Queen must do. I obey only those codes that are designated as applying to royal blood. Because I have royal blood. Ancient blood."

Kuriiza's eyes widened suddenly and he took a step back. "Blizard!?" he cried, his voice shaking slightly.

"In a manner of speaking." she replied.

Behind her Vegeta scowled. He didn't know what she was talking about but he didn't particularly like the implications she was making. If she shared blood with Blizard, the Changeling King that Frigid had overthrown... That would muck up the waters considerably. Though it could explain her power.

"He is a relative, but not an ancestor." she continued. "My line traces back through a different source. But I still call Frost and Tundra ancestors." 


	19. The Greatest Changeling

Chapter Nineteen - The Greatest Changeling

"Impossible!" Kuriiza cried. "They had only one child, Koori."

"No, there were two. The still born son was not still born, nor a son." Nova explained. "Upon having a daughter Frost feared her place as Queen was in danger. Her belief was, thinking the child her fault, Tundra might kick her out of palace and take a new wife, instead of waiting five years until she could produce another child.

"And so she claimed the child a son, and still born. But it was not, and it was not incinerated. The child, Rikka, was given to one of Frost's maids and taken from the palace to be raised by that maid as her own. But Rikka was told of her heritage and even kept in touch with Frost, served on the Changeling Council for a time as well."

Nova took a breath as she relaxed. She could tell Kuriiza was interested in her tale, there was little chance he would attack her before it was finished. What she didn't know was that almost everyone around her was interested, listening intently to her every word. "As you know Koori went on to have a son, Fubuku, who then had Blizard.

"Eventually Rikka became pregnant herself, with twins. And she chose to accept the danger such a pregnancy presents to our people and have the children. They were born, Yakedo and Touketsu, and she died shortly there after. Their father could not raise both sons by himself and so he kept the first born, Yakedo, and sold Touketsu. Touketsu later went on to have his own son, Frigid. You know how that line proceeds from there."

She shifted her footing a little as she considered the information she was sharing had been known only to her family for more than a thousand years. Touketsu had never been told his heritage, but Yakedo's line had kept track of both family lines. "Yakedo, too, had a child. Several, in fact. Three daughters and two sons. The daughters all died, along with one of the sons, during one of Fubuku's 'sweeps for traitors'." she continued.

"But that one son, Blaze, was enough. For he had two children in time. A son and a daughter. The son died in a Tournament of Skulls battle. The daughter went unnoticed and, in time, Flare had her own daughter. Me." She spread her arms a bit. "And that is why I will fight you but I will not kill you.

"The code forbids killing within the royal family for succession of the throne, stating the rights of the first born son. As a descendant of Frost and Tundra, and the only descendant of Cold still alive, that would be you. It also forbids challenging the throne for leadership outside of the Tournament of Skulls, but our people do not have the time to wait for another tournament."

Kuriiza stood there, motionless, as he absorbed what Nova had said. "Why should I believe a word of it?" he asked, almost too softly to be heard at this distance.

"What reason do you have not to?" Nova asked. "What purpose would it serve for me to tell you that you are a descendant of Frost and Tundra? To tell you that we are related? In fact, to tell you that your claim to the throne is stronger than even you had originally believed? Had our genders been switched, then perhaps this information would work in my favor."

Kuriiza nodded slowly, knowing she was right. Her tale simply reinforced his claims to the throne. It gave her no extra footing. All that it spared her from was death at his hands in battle. But if their genders had been reversed then the claim would have made her the rightful heir of the throne. Descended of the first born line, though female as it was, would have given her, were she a he, a higher position in the chain of succession than him, son of a second born.

And second born not just once, but twice over. Touketsu and his own father, both second born. Her line held the succession power of Tundra... He narrowed his eyes slightly as it all sunk in. Yes, her line held the power. She had nothing to gain by making up such a tale, in fact, it would only make her lose ground because her continued existence was now an even greater threat to him and to his future heirs. Any sons she had would have a strong claim to the throne and would inherit the incredible power passed down from Tundra.

As he looked across at her his eyes narrowed further. Suddenly he shot up into the air and glanced around him. Spying who he was looking for standing in the crowd he smiled. "Ospion!" he called down. "Throw it to me!" Vegeta and the others turned to look toward the crowd and saw someone among them pitch something up toward Kuriiza.

The Changeling caught it and then looked back toward Nova again. "I hadn't wanted to do this." he said. "Rumors say eating this increases your power, but since I didn't find many I've never had the chance to test it. But..." he tossed what he held up in the air and then caught it again. "To defeat you and end your threat it's worth the risk." With that he raised it to his mouth.

"Wait... that..." Gohan started as he saw Kuriiza catch the object tossed to him. He hadn't seen it in person but his grandfather had told him about it, described it to him. "That's a fruit from a Tree of Might!"

"A what?" Vegeta asked.

"Sanil had one on Earth. It's full of energy." Gohan said.

"If he takes a bite of that..." Piccolo started. But he stopped as it happened. Kuriiza bit down into the fruit and ate a piece of it. Almost instantly his body bulked up some and his power shot up quickly. His hand closed tightly around the fruit but he made sure not to destroy it.

"Now you are history!" he cried, surging down at Nova. She braced herself, not sure what had just happened, but lost sight of the Changeling a second later. Then a loud crack sounded as his fist smashed into her chest and sent her flying back into Videl. The half Sai-jin caught her and, as she did, Piccolo moved between them and deflected the energy blast the Changeling had launched at them.

"I think that's enough." Vegeta said, crossing his arms and glaring at Kuriiza. "You've outgrown your welcome on my planet."

He was about to say more when Nova walked passed him again and stood between them and Kuriiza. "As I said, this is my responsibility." she said.

"You can't..." Videl said. "He's gotten a lot stronger now. He's a lot more powerful than you."

Nova looked back at her and Vegeta recognized the look in her eyes. "Let her go." Vegeta said softly. "Sometimes you have to handle your own battles, no matter the odds." Nova nodded to him slowly then turned toward Kuriiza again. The other Changeling was smirking and she scowled, her eyes moving to the fruit still in his hand.

She looked back from the fruit to his face. The corner of her mouth rose slightly, in a small smile. In a burst of blue she shot in at him, her voice ringing out as she did. "Invalesco!" Her blue aura flared up and became both blue and red. Those behind her sensed a sudden burst in power but it was gone as quickly as it came and they didn't get a clear feel.

During that burst, though, she'd rammed head first into Kuriiza and then flipped over behind him. Nova landed, sliding to a stop, and then turned to face him again. As she looked up again her small small turned into a full grin.

As he stood Kuriiza saw what she held in her hand and then looked down at his own. "NO!" he cried, charging in, as Nova raised the fruit to her mouth. He pulled back a fist and launched a punch at her head as he reached her... but her free hand came up and caught it. She could feel the power coursing through her. Power more than she'd ever thought she'd have.

She didn't know if it would last or not and intended to put it to use while she still had it. She stood quickly, head butting the Changeling in the jaw. The blow knocked him up and she slammed her fist into his gut as she stood knocking him back. Then she opened her fist and fired an orb of blue energy after him. He recovered just before it hit and smacked it away with his tail. Then he flipped over and landed facing her again, a scowl locked on his face.

Nova raised the arm holding the fruit and smiled as she crushed it. That only made Kuriiza scowl more. There was a flash of blue and a flash of purple as the two launched in at each other. A loud crack echoed across the landscape as the two of them met and began exchanging blows again.

Vegeta heard sounds behind him and turned to look. Mellona and a contingent of guards from the arena were picking their way out passed the destroyed entrance, their eyes locked firmly on their scouters and the battling Changelings. They all looked rather pale. "Uh... um, sir..." Mellona started, walking up beside him. "Do you think it's wise to let them fight here?" she asked. "I mean..."

"I know." Vegeta said, turning his attention forward again. "I'll make sure it doesn't spread beyond just them... and if it does any damage to the Sennari it's only damage that would have happened anyway at this point. This is a Changeling matter, one of succession, I wont step in unless I must."

His father, standing on the other side of him, nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately situations like this are more about politics than protection." he said to Mellona. "Move too soon and, well..." The conversation trailed off as a bright flash of purple filled the sky from Kuriiza releasing a massive burst of ki to drive Nova away from him.

The younger Changeling was panting heavily. He'd not lost much power yet but he'd been exerting himself a lot to keep up with the woman. Not that she was faster than him, just more skilled. Much more. But the look in Kuriiza's eyes... it was wild. Vegeta didn't like it. Suddenly the Changeling turned toward the crowd and yelled. "Give me the other one!"

Another object came flying out at him and he caught it. A second fruit. "Coward!" Nova yelled. "Fight like a warrior!"

"Silence!" Kuriiza called down. "I will not lose here, no matter the cost! I will win, I will continue my family's empire!" He turned his eyes down to the fruit and raised it to his mouth. He paused, though, before he took a bite of it. His eyes narrowed and then suddenly he jammed the full thing into his mouth. A moment later his eyes snapped wide as his body swelled, his arms, legs, and chest growing to twice the size his father's had been when at full power.

And his power, his power shot through the roof. High enough it made Vegeta growl. Kuriiza looked at himself as the power increase settled and he smiled. "Now, now I am the greatest Changeling!" he called. "The greatest in the universe! This power... this power is incredible! None could hope to match me!"

Nova scowled and shot up at him. Reaching him a moment later she smashed her fist into his face with a crack but he didn't budge. She drifted back, braced herself, and called out again. "Invalesco!" Once again her aura shifted to both red and blue, like flame, and her power climbed. This time she fired a kick at his head but it had as little effect as her previous punch. Kuriiza smirked as his tail came around and smashed into her face knocking her down into the ground.

Her aura sputtered and vanished, but she groaned and slowly climbed back to her feet. Once standing again she turned to face her opponent and found Vegeta walking out toward him, arms crossed. The Sai-jin's father stepped up on one side of her and Piccolo on the other. "Time to let us handle this." the Namek said. "This has gone well out of your league."

"But..."

"Piccolo's right." Gohan said from behind her. "Let's just hope he doesn't have any more of that fruit... or we could be in serious trouble." Nova glanced back at him as he said this. If he was worried about Kuriiza eating another fruit then things definitely were out of her hands now. She sighed and turned to watch what would happen.

"Oh, so now you want to play, Vegeta?" Kuriiza asked smirking. "Well, I don't mind playing with you."

"This ends now, Kuriiza." Vegeta called up. "Your line has ruled for long enough. I think it's time for a change."

Kuriiza laughed. "So Nova gets the Sai-jin endorsement eh? Can't really say that'd sit well with the rest of our race after what you did to my family."

Vegeta snorted. "I'd imagine they'd be pleased I approve of their new leadership. Means I wont have to wipe them out to prevent future problems. You do realize that several races talking about joining the Sennari have been demanding just that, don't you? The annihilation of the Changeling race. Sort of an insurance policy against the rise of any more rulers like your family."

This was news to Nova. She'd heard that tensions were high in the galaxy about what the Changelings were doing. But she hadn't known there were entire planets calling for their destruction. Not too surprising, she supposed, after the Cold Family's rule the passed five hundred or so years.

"But I should think." Vegeta continued. "That most of them would be happy enough with your end and a stable, non psychopathic, leader in place." He stopped walking still a few dozen yards from Kuriiza and several feet below him. "Normally I wouldn't interfere with leadership of an independent government without some sort of formal request and certain conditions being met.

"But in this case you tried to interfere with our government and that changes the rules. So, Kuriiza, if you think you can take the Sai-jin King, if you think you can take the Sai-jin that killed Cooler, if you think you can take a Super Sai-jin..." at this there was a flash of gold around him as he transformed. "Then let's see what you've got."

Kuriiza's eyes widened for a moment as Vegeta transformed and then narrowed. "You don't scare me Vegeta, not now. My father survived his battle against a Super Sai-jin and I'm a lot more powerful than he was!"

"And the Sai-jin he fought was a weakling compared to me." Vegeta replied with a grin. "But come on, come and get me if you think you can. But I'll warn you now, I wont even need to use my arms or hands to beat you."

Kuriiza's purple aura flared up as he surged down at Vegeta. The Changeling pulled back a fist for a punch and then launched it as he neared. The Sai-jin royal simply tilted his head to the side and the punch slid harmless passed him. The Changeling growled threw a kick for his side. Vegeta twisted around so that he stood sideways and the kick missed.

Kuriiza then lifted up into the air slightly and spun, aiming a kick for the Sai-jin's head. But he bent his knees and ducked easily under it. It wasn't even close enough for the breeze to move his hair. Suddenly he stood and smashed his head into the other's abdomen. The Changeling's eyes and mouth widened in shock and pain.

Vegeta then lifted into the air and kicked out with his right leg slamming his foot into the Changeling's face. His left foot cracked into his chest and then he spun and smashed his heel into the side of his head, the blow sending him flying. Then he vanished as he took off at high speed. He appeared, a moment later, behind Kuriiza and slammed both feet into the Changeling's back with a thunderous crack.

Kuriiza surged forward a few dozen yards before falling to the ground and rolling/sliding a few dozen more. Vegeta landed only a few feet away, his arms still crossed. The Changeling was slow getting back to his feet but finally stood a moment later and shook his head to clear it. Looking back over his shoulder he scowled at Vegeta and growled. But then he smirked and started laughing which unnerved the Sai-jin.

He then raised both arms above his head, palms facing each other, as he started floating up into the sky. Purple, black, and red energy began to gather over his head, between his hands. "I should have just done this from the start!" he called out, still laughing. "This planet is DUST!"

Vegeta turned his head and spat. "What is it with you Changelings and blowing up planets?" he muttered.

"Now... DIE!" Kuriiza cried, pitching the attack at Vegeta. Meanwhile, the crowd began to back away from the battle.

The Sai-jin stood still as it neared, until it was almost upon him, and then jumped up and kicked it back to its source. "No thanks, you first." he said, grinning. The Changeling's eyes widened in shock and he thrust his arms down to hold off the attack. Vegeta opened his mouth, a glow coming from it, and then fired a beam of golden energy into the energy ball causing it to explode.

The mouth blast punched through the explosion and continued on up into space. Kuriiza fell the ground a moment later, a hole punched through the middle of his chest. His ki was fading quickly as Vegeta walked over to stand beside him. "Like I said, didn't even need to use my arms or hands."

"This... can't be... possible..." Kuriiza said, barely above a whisper. "I am... the most powerful Changeling... to ever... live..."

"Which just proves the superiority of the Sai-jin race for, you see, you only witnessed half of my full power." the Sai-jin said. Kuriiza's eyes widened for a moment and then closed as his ki vanished. "Good-bye, and good riddance." 


	20. What the Future Holds

Chapter Twenty - What the Future Holds

The ground made a soft crunching sound with each step he took. Rocks and twisted, burnt, nearly destroyed metal turning to dust beneath his feet. As he walked he gazed at the world about him. The buildings were little more than charred rubble. Corpses littered the streets like a sea of dead. Thick black smoke hung in the sky which was as red as blood.

As he came to a stop he knew where he was. He could see the blue doorway that lead to the rubble of Capsule Corp. only a block ahead of him. Fires burned all around him, the stench of burning hair and flesh searing his eyes and nose. It was the dream. The nightmare. The vision. The... whatever it was. He was having it again. He didn't want to walk down to the other end of the road. To that intersection where he always stood. Because then the dream would play out again.

Suddenly a loud explosion sounded above him and he looked up into the sky. There were people up there fighting, he could only just make them out. Neither were him or the guy he'd kept seeing before. They were both female and had spiky golden hair. /Super Sai-jins?/ he wondered.

He only knew of one Super Sai-jin female and that was Videl. Neither of these warriors were Videl. And then he saw the sparks of blue and realized they weren't just Super Sai-jins, they were second level Super Sai-jins. "What is this? I've... never seen this before..."

His eyes took in everything about the two fighting women. The one was wearing torn up red pants and a black and red battle armor. The other had on blue pants and a white vest with black trim over a small pink top. Suddenly a hard kick from the armored woman sent the one in the vest surging down at the ground. Down at him. Instinctively he flinched but the impact never came.

Opening his eyes he saw that she was gone, both of them were. He hesitated only a moment before continuing down the road. Reaching an intersection he looked down to where the man usually stood but he wasn't there this time. "This has... never happened before." he said. "It's always been the same dream before. Why is it different now?"

His eyes suddenly widened as he caught, momentarily, a glimpse of a small form in the smoke before him. It came and went between curls of the thick, black, acrid smoke as though first conjured and then dispelled by it. The glimpse had been too quick, too sudden, to get a true idea of the figure's appearance. He had noted only that it was a child before it had gone.

Deciding he didn't really have much choice he walked forward toward that intersection. But as he neared it he saw something else that was clearly different than every other time he'd been here. The blue doors that had stood before, the only remains of the Capsule Corp. building, were gone now. Destroyed. One of them lay dented and twisted in the middle of the road, a body under it.

Vegeta froze only feet away from the door, his eyes locked on the face he could now see of that body, shock and disbelief flooding through him. "No... that's impossible..." he said softly. "How could..." He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it and when he opened them again the body, his body, was gone. And so was everything else. He now stood in total blackness.

Then, from behind him, he heard a voice. A voice he knew from his other dreams. The voice of that unknown man, the one he believed to be Raven's mate. "And this is where it ends." he was saying. "Your time has expired, your power has gone." The Sai-jin turned to see where the man was and found him standing some distance away with two bodies at his feet. They were alive, but barely.

"I must admit, you came a lot closer than I had expected." he continued. "You were actually stronger than me. I never dreamed that would happen. No matter, in the end it still wasn't enough. Just the two of you never had a hope of defeating me. Perhaps if the others hadn't died already..."

His voice was fading, becoming muffled like it was passing through a wall. Again a form took shape before him. A silvery ethereal light around a child like form made of some sort of shapeless, substance-less, smoke. And as quickly as it came it was gone. Now blue light was seeping into the sky above as grass covered ground flowed out around him.

He watched as the darkness retreated from him and revealed a new sight to his eyes. He was standing not far from the Galactic Games Arena. And then the sounds of battle reached him from all around him and he looked about. Everywhere he turned he saw soldiers in armors, Sai-jin and otherwise, fighting odd creatures of different shapes, sizes, and colors.

"What... is this?" he wondered. Then he heard an odd crackling sound from by the arena and looked toward it. His eyes widened in shock. A large portion of the arena wall was missing and some sort of pulsing blue and orange light was floating a few feet above the ground. The light suddenly flared brightly and expanded. Vegeta caught a glimpse of a planet through the light, another world in the midst of battle against more creatures.

And then five more of these beings surged out of the light and it shrank back down again. "Spread out!" one of them, a female, called. "Remember our orders, find the strongest first!"

As he tried to comprehend what he was seeing a searing pain tore through his mind. White hot light flared behind his eyes as waves of sounds and images surged through him. There was too much all at once for him to make out any details. Again he saw that child like form, silvery light emanating from it, and then the bright light vanished and he saw...

Vegeta let out a loud cry and sat up straight, the sheet falling away from him as he did, sweat covering his body. He swallowed and then jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. Turning he saw Bulma looking at him worriedly. "Again?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. I mean, yes. But... different..."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

A small form stood atop the remains of a former wall. The building it had once been part of was gone, blasted into rubble. The entire city around the girl was decimated. A wasteland of steel and concrete. She gazed about her in a mix of wonder and fear. This was a new scene. This was something she had not before witnessed.

Akemi turned and looked behind her as she heard a voice yell out "Come now! Is that all you've got?! I thought you were supposed to be the greatest Sai-jin?" She saw a man standing on the street surrounded by fire.

And then another voice sounded from above. "You dare mock me! You will pay for what you have done!" She looked up and saw a golden streak surge downward. There was a loud crack and the man with the golden aura surged down the road toward her. He slid and came to a stop only feet away and she recognized him.

Frowning she looked toward the other man again. He was walking toward them but stopped when a new voice came from behind him. "Not so fast!" the new voice cried. Two more streaks of gold surged at him but both were knocked away.

The man turned toward them, his red tail swishing behind him. "You can't beat me." he said simply.

"We'll see about that." one of the men said as they climbed to their feet. "Fuuuu..."

Suddenly there was a loud crash and bright flash and the world around her vanished. She was standing on a beach now. A beach she knew well, it was the one at the lake back home. The forest was burning, people were yelling for help, and then in another loud and bright flash it was gone and she was in darkness.

"And this is where it ends." a voice said near-by. "Your time has expired, your power has gone." Akemi looked around and found that man from the first vision standing only feet away. Laying on the ground before him were two people she didn't know. "I must admit, you came a lot closer than I had expected. You were actually stronger than me. I never dreamed that would happen. No matter, in the end it still wasn't enough. Just the two of you never had a hope of defeating me. Perhaps if the others hadn't died already you may have had a chance."

"You... wont..." one of the ones on the ground wheezed.

"Wont what? Win? I'm afraid I already have. Everyone's dead. Everyone that challenged us, challenged me, is gone. It's over. No, not over. It's only just begun. My new empire, that is. An eternal empire. And in time I'll be able to have my revenge. Even the Shugotenshi will fall before me for what they've done!" His red tail lashed behind him in agitation as he finished.

Akemi cringed as a wave of time washed through her. Flashes of events, snippets of sounds, bursts of places. It was almost too much for her despite her abilities. Faces rushed passed her. Evil looking ones, friends of her parents, her friends, a guy made of metal, a small blue bald guy, another guy with blue skin and red or orange hair, her mom (at least, she thought it was her but she looked a lot different), and hundreds more she couldn't discern.

Voices flowed around her, too many to pick out anything more than a few of the words that were being said. "Die!" "I don't..." "Goku..." "Help!" "Impossible!" "His power..." "Razor!" "Not again..." "No!" "Forgive me..." "...the legacy..."

And then in a rush it was all gone and she was standing in the grass near the Galactic Games Arena. She knew that's where she was because it's where she always was for the last six months. And as the sounds of crying reached her ears she closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to see. Not again.

But, as she always did, she hoped things were different now. And with the hope she might see something she'd not seen before she opened her eyes and turned around. And there she saw herself, her face burried in the fabric of her sister's shirt, crying. And her sister was...

Akemi's eyes flew open and she sat up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Sakura..." she called, barely above a whisper. "Sakura." louder now. She turned and looked at the bed on her right where her sister lay sleeping. "Sakura!"

Sakura rolled over, her eyes only half open. "Akemi? What is it?" she asked.

"I had it again. The vision..." she said, wiping her eyes. "There was other stuff there too but at the end it was the same vision."

Sakura sat up and looked at her sister for a moment before moving over and sitting down beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "The one where I'm..." Akemi nodded. Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. She'd hoped that it would stop, especially now that they were on the world and at the place it was going to happen.

They'd tried telling their parents about it but they'd both written it off as just a dream. But Sakura and Akemi, they knew better. Akemi had gotten a few visions before and they knew they were real. They could be changed, they didn't have to happen as she saw them, but they were real.

"It's ok Akemi." Sakura said, rubbing her sister's back. "We wont let it happen." She looked down at her little sister and then kissed the top of her head. "You said you saw other stuff?"

Akemi nodded. "Yeah, but... b-but I don't th-think it was f-from the same th-thing." she sniffed. "First I w-was in a destroyed c-city with th-this guy with a t-tail who was fighting V-Vegeta. And th-then it was all dark and the t-tail guy was fighting two o-others. After that I was on the b-beach by the l-lake at home and the f-forest was b-burning."

She swallowed and wiped her eyes again. "And I saw all th-these people. You and mom and dad and their f-friends and strange people I've n-never seen b-before. It was... weird. It's never b-been like that before. It was l-like... like I was g-getting other people's s-stuff."

"Other people's... wait, you think you were getting someone else's visions?"

"Maybe." Akemi said softly. "But not r-really. It was l-like... like they w-were taking me t-to the t-time but I w-was controlling it. It felt l-like someone el-else was th-there and that they were c-confused."

Sakura nodded. She wasn't sure what it meant, though. It sounded like her vision and someone else's got crossed. "Was it like..." she paused as she fished around for a description. "Like you tapped into someone else's vision?"

Akemi shook her head. She'd calmed down enough now she could talk a little better. "N-no. Like they were using my... my powers. They sent their vision through m-me and I saw the time they saw but n-not what they saw..."

"We should tell mom and dad." Sakura said after a minute.

"But they don't believe us!"

"They'll have to soon, wont they? Unless we can change it..." Akemi didn't answer, just sniffed again.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sai-jin Palace, Garden

Nova sat in the midst of the garden with her legs crossed, hands cupped, and eyes closed. It was well after midnight now and all the commotion over the day's events had ended a couple of hours ago. She was now meditating and enjoying the peace and quiet of the nice cool night. There had been... problems, immediately following Kuriiza's death. Not the least of which had been his remaining followers.

Apparently he'd come with more troops of his own than she'd thought. Right after his death chaos had broken out in the crowd as several people went nothing short of crazy and started attacking at random. The arena security, Vegeta, and the others, had dove into that chaos and brought it to an end before anyone had been killed. Though there had been several injuries. By now, though, they'd be out of the Regen Tanks and good as new.

A problem that wouldn't go away nearly as quickly was public reaction to the fact Kuriiza had been there at all, and her presence among Vegeta and the others. Word had spread beyond planet Vegeta quickly that the new queen of the Changelings was on world and, apparently, a guest of the Sai-jins. And neither Vegeta nor the others had said anything to the public yet so rumor was the only information they had.

There was currently, as there had been all night, a gathering of protestors outside the palace gates. Sai-jin and alien alike they were all demanding her execution. Meanwhile those who she'd met in the palace seemed to be doing their best to avoid her. All in all it had been an... eventful outing so far.

Hearing the sound of crunching rock and dirt under feet she opened her eyes and looked toward the sound. She saw a person moving slowly through the garden, head tilted back a little and eyes gazing up at the stars. Not sure who it was she stayed quiet until they passed through a sliver of light from a window several floors up. As the yellow light passed over them Nova recognized her. Mijima, one of the more interesting allies the Sai-jins had made in recent years.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked as the woman walked passed her only a few feet away. She jumped, startled and turned to look. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, Nova. That's ok." the Cyborg said, spying the woman sitting on the ground. She turned toward her and walked over to where she was before sitting down under a tree a few feet away. "It's what I get for not paying attention."

"You did seem rather lost in thought. Something keeping you awake?"

"No, not really." the blonde replied. "I don't actually need to sleep. I can power down my systems to rest if I want but it's not really sleep. What about you?"

The Changeling noted the other woman's artful dodge of the question and realized whatever was on her mind it wasn't something she wanted to discuss. "Changelings don't sleep." she said after a moment. "Not in the sense of other races anyway. We've got two separate brains, one for higher thought and one for more base thinking, and one of them is always alert, awake."

Mijima raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you have more hours of boredom a day than I do. I can at least get an hour or so of unconsciousness a day if I really want to."

Nova shrugged. "Perhaps. But the thought of being almost completely unaware like that has always scared me so it's probably for the best. Probably left over emotions from my days working in Cold's palace..." She turned her head and gazed at the other woman. "If you... don't mind my asking. How much of you is..."

"Machine?" Mijima finished. "Not as much as you might think. There's the power core, a bundle of chips and wires in my brain, a network of wiring almost like a second nervous system that carries the power from my core and out of my body so I can use it, and several trillion nano-machines that keep up repairs and what have you. I'd say, of my over all composition, about 5 percent of me was created by Gero."

"Not much difference for so much power." she said, looking away.

"No, I suppose not." Mijima said as she leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. "How long do Changelings live?" she asked suddenly.

Nova cast her a glance again before answering. "It varies. The average is around six centuries."

Mijima smiled faintly. "Six hundred years..." she said softly. "Must be nice."

The Changeling glanced at her again. "Yeah, I guess. I've never really thought about it before. I know the average age for Sai-jins is seventy-five. What is it for Humans?"

"About the same. Eighty or ninety or so." Mijima replied. "Well, for normal Humans anyway..."

The way she said that, and the long sigh that followed, caught Nova's attention. "What do you mean? Is it different for some people?"

There was a long silence before the other woman replied. "For my brother and I." she said at last. "You asked before what was on my mind... it was this. The same thing that's always on my mind when I have time to myself to think on it. You see... Dr. Gero was... well, he was insane but they say there's a fine line between insanity and genius.

"The nano-machines in mine and my brother's bodies keep us in top condition. Normal aging occurs as cells divide and wear down over time as a result of the constant division. But the nano-machines keep the cells in perfect health no matter the number of divisions. We've stopped aging... which means..."

"Eternal life..." Nova said softly.

"Well, in a sense. We can die, but not from old age." Mijima sighed again. "I really don't see what the appeal was for Frieza. To living forever, I mean. Everyone else will grow old and die. Everyone but me, Gainin, Piccolo, and the old pervert."

"Piccolo? Old pervert?"

"Piccolo's father had eternal youth and then, just before dying, passed on his life force to create Piccolo." Mijima explained. "So Piccolo inherited it. And the old pervert would be Roshi. He's already over three hundred years old."

The Changeling watched the other woman for a moment. "Thinking about being left behind by everyone else?" she asked at last. Mijima nodded faintly. "Well, it's no good to dwell on what you can't do anything about." she said. She was quiet for a few moments as she thought. Finally she turned her head toward the Cyborg. "And it's not much, but I still have around four hundred years left." At this Mijima opened her eyes again and looked at Nova for a moment. And then she smiled.


	21. Preparing for the Future

Chapter Twenty-one - Preparing for the Future

Neither of the girls had been able to get back to sleep after Akemi's latest vision. Both knew that if it was to come to pass it would be within the week. Which meant it was time to focus their thoughts on how best to thwart it. They'd talked, trying to piece together as much of the vision's events as possible. Sakura had her focus on other things she'd seen in the vision during it's various occurrences.

They didn't have much.

They knew there was a battle occurring, a big one, all around her during the vision. But they didn't know who was fighting or why. And the previous day had already seen one battle at the arena's grounds. Obviously Kuriiza wasn't the source of this battle. So, then, what was? "I'm sorry..." Akemi said sadly, barely above a whisper.

"It's not your fault Akemi." Sakura said, stopping in her pacing and sitting down by her sister again.

"But if I could remember more, or if I investigated the area more, then..."

"It's fine. We'll stop it. And... and if we don't mom and dad will wish me back."

Akemi nodded, still not fully convinced. "But how can we stop it?" she asked. "Just the two of us?"

Sakura had to admit she had a point. They needed more people involved. She still planned to tell her parents again, even if they wouldn't believe, but they needed ones who would believe. "Akemi, do you think you could... contact the others? Cheri, Trunks, and Goten?"

"Ummm, I can try..."

"Ok. See if you can have them come here."

Akemi nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating. A moment later she was seeing just as she had in the halls the other day, even though her eyes were closed, as her mind once again moved away from her body. She didn't know where Trunks or Goten where but she knew Cheri was down a floor and down the hall so that's where she went first, floating right through the floor and the walls.

She moved through three walls before she saw Cheri laying in bed sleeping, the sheets barely draped over her in the oppressive and unnaturally high early morning heat, and her tail dangling over the side of the bed. Though, as she neared, the girl shivered slightly. Coming to a stop beside her she lowered her head down beside the girl's ear and focused. "Cheri, wake up. Come on Cheri, wake up." she said, frowning.

The other girl stirred and then opened her eyes. "Sakura wants to talk to everyone."

Cheri blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Akemi?" she asked softly as she sat up and looked around.

"You can't see me." she said. "I'm here in spirit form. Sakura wants you to come up to our room, we have to tell you something."

"What time is it?"

"I dunno. Where are Goten and Trunks?"

"Huh? Oh, umm... I'll get them, I know the intercom channel for Trunks' room."

"Ok. I'll go back to my room then." and with that she floated back up through the ceiling again. Cheri felt her departure as the room began warm up suddenly. Throwing the sheets off of her she hopped out of bed, pulled off the long t-shirt she used as a night gown, and slipped into a pair of shorts and a tank-top to contend with the day's already unusual heat.

Then she moved over to the com panel and entered the code that patched her into Trunks' room. "Hey Trunks, are you awake yet?" she asked.

When she didn't get a reply she pushed the buzzer button a few times. Finally his voice, still groggy, came over the com. "Who is it?"

"Cheri." she said. "Sakura wants us up in her room for something. Goten's in your hall too, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Get him too, she wants all three of us."

"Fine, fine." he said yawning. "Oh man, it's only just after five AM! This better be important..."

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Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room 14

It was still an hour until dawn but already a gathering had formed in one of the palace's conference rooms. The two Vegetas, Bulma, Hotaru, Yamcha, Vadora, Piccolo, and Nova were sitting at a table in one of the large rooms discussing the previous day's events and things to come. "We didn't really have the time yesterday for this." the younger Vegeta said. "Not on top of dealing with the panic that followed the battle."

He sighed and glanced down at the screen of the small computer in his hand. It was currently displaying a report from Saiya City about a riot that had broken out at around 3 AM. According to eye witnesses a group of individuals, Sai-jin and alien alike, had been discussing the battle between the Changelings at one of the city's bars. Some comments had been made that, in centuries past, would have counted as treason. And then another group of people, mostly Sai-jins, had gotten into a heated argument with them which had then broken into violence.

What would have only been a bar room brawl quickly turned into a six block riot thanks to high tensions over the current situation. It was starting to look like all the work on the Sennari's formation was falling apart. "Damn it." he cursed, scanning the list. "Vadora, did you see this?" he asked, glancing toward her.

Vadora nodded. "Mellona came to me before the reports even started coming in." she said. "She said she takes full responsibility for her actions but that she'd do it again in heart beat."

Vegeta couldn't help but smirk a little. It was times like this where such strong loyalty as that was rather comforting. At least not everyone thought he'd gone insane. "What about that guy, the one from Sedana?"

"Mazda." Vadora said with a nod. "He was arrested this morning at around 4 AM." she said, reading the information off her own computer. "Charged with inciting panic, disturbing the peace, disrupting law enforcement, and trying to incite a riot."

"Once again, I am sorry for all the trouble I've caused you." Nova said.

Senator Vegeta shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Had you not been here I think things would be even worse than they are. Kuriiza would have been believed to be the new Changeling ruler. You can imagine the backlash that would have caused."

"Right." his son said with a nod. "Instead of just calling for your execution they'd all be demanding we go and wipe you all out. It'd just give them the 'proof' they've been waiting for that no one's safe while the Changelings exist. At least now we actually have all the facts."

"And getting those facts out to the public is our current task." his father continued. "Even our supporters are getting tired of hearing 'no comment' and 'we're still investigating' by this point."

"What about the tournament?" Hotaru asked. "The Arena took a bit of damage."

"It's still structurally sound." Vadora replied. "I had the engineers comb over it all night and put up some temporary repairs. It can still be used."

"Then we continue." Vegeta said. "I'm not letting some conceited, egotistical, self-important, over compensating brat with a superiority complex derail seven years of work."

Hotaru smirked. "Are we talking about you or are we still talking about Kuriiza?" she asked.

Vegeta glanced over to her and gave her a half smirk half scowl before turning his eyes back to the computer in his hand. "What we need to work out right now is exactly what we're going to tell the public. I had originally hoped to stay away from any association with the Changelings for at least another two decades, no offense." He added the last part with a glance at Nova.

"None taken." she replied. "An understandable sentiment, and far more reasonable than a lot of others. If I thought my slipping away quietly and disappearing for a few decades would help any I'd do it."

"Well, why not just tell them the truth?" Yamcha asked, putting his hands behind his head.

"Because most wont believe it." replied the elder Vegeta. "Especially not the part about conditions on Henka for the other Changelings. General opinion of the masses has always been that Henka was some sort of over indulgent paradise where everyone thought and acted like the Cold Family and everyone lived like kings standing on the backs of the other races. That can't just be changed overnight."

"Well..." Bulma said slowly. "We could put a slight spin on it. Give them half the truth."

"What do you mean?" asked Nova.

"Well, we explain it like this. We say that you're the leader of a resistance movement the Changeling's have had for some time, that you have been fighting the Cold Family as well. The people can't believe that every Changeling is exactly the same..."

"What about what she told Kuriiza though?" Hotaru asked. "She as much as told everyone, and I saw on the news that it's spread to the whole galaxy already, that she was related to him."

Senator Vegeta straightened up in his seat in thought. "Well, I don't know about other races, but we Sai-jins have a similar event in our pasts."

His son glanced over at him, his brow furrowed in thought, and then realization dawned on him. "Rasbara and Cantala."

"Who?" Bulma asked.

"Sisters who lived about two thousand years ago." he explained. "Descendants of the first Sai-jin King. Rasbara was crowned as Queen when she turned eighteen, after her father's death. Cantala disappeared shortly there after. Records show that Rasbara was... not the greatest of leaders. By the end of her reign six years later she could have made even Frieza look like a saint."

"What happened to her?" asked Yamcha.

"Cantala came back. Turns out she knew what her sister was up to, that she'd been obsessed with power, paranoid that everyone was out to kill her, and just generally psychopathic. During the six years of her absence she'd trained heavily so that she could overthrow her sister and put things right again. Obviously she succeeded. Rasbara was killed in the battle and our line continued through Cantala."

"Right." his father said. "We can make that connection with our announcement. It'll probably convince most Sai-jins. As for everyone else, they'll have to come along in time."

"Well... hey!" Yamcha cried, suddenly leaning forward and grinning. "I know! We tell them that like you said but we also tell them that Nova was here not just to locate Kuriiza but for a meeting with us."

"And how, exactly, would that help us?" Vegeta asked, frowning.

"Simple!" Yamcha said. "We say that she wanted a meeting with us, with you, for help finding and stopping Kuriiza. And to assure you that she and her people would stay away from the Sennari..."

Nova smiled. "That's a good idea. Also, this could help us with another matter we've been trying to figure out for a while now. We Changeling's aren't a large population, we only have a few million people. Those loyal to the Cold Family have fled. The rest have returned to Henka for safety. We... have no use for those worlds Cold once controlled..."

Vegeta nodded. He knew what she was getting at. "That'll help our position greatly." he said.

"What will?" asked Yamcha.

"Returning world's Cold and has family previously conquered and stole to their original inhabitants." Nova replied.

At this Hotaru slid back in her seat and sat up straighter. She couldn't believe this had never occurred to her before now. It... could be possible for her people to go home again...

"We have one other matter of importance." Piccolo said. "Namely, if Kuriiza was working for Raven or not."

"I don't think he was." Hotaru said, pulling her mind away from her other thoughts. "You heard him. He wasn't sure the fruit would work."

Nova nodded. "I'm with her. And, there are records... Cooler had apparently been approached by people who said they represented another Empire from beyond our galaxy. He only made vague references to them but..."

"Makes sense." Bulma said. "But why approach him and not the others?"

Vegeta snorted. "Frieza and Cold would have been too conceited to believe another empire would exist with leaders stronger than them. Cooler would have been doubtful but not against the notion. And willing to form an alliance, though not to submitting to them. Just a 'you help me and I'll help you' situation."

He then frowned a bit, Piccolo's suggestion the previous day about their involvement in Raven's plans returning to the forefront of his thoughts. "His attack here may have actually been their idea, come to think of it..."

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Sai-jin Palace, Sakura and Akemi's Room

Cheri had gotten to their room in only a couple of minutes. Goten and Trunks, who were in a different wing of the palace, took longer. When they finally showed up Trunks was already dressed in his blue-green gi though Goten had only grabbed an orange t-shirt and white pants. He also looked like he was still asleep, despite the fact he was up and walking.

"So, what's going on?" Trunks asked as the door closed behind them.

"We think something big is going to happen." Sakura started, deciding to dive right into things. "And soon."

"Big?" asked Cheri. "What do you mean?"

Sakura took a deep breath as she climbed up off her bed where she'd been sitting and paced the room. "We don't... really know." she said at last. "Ummm, well, it's like this... One of Akemi's abilities is... to see the future. She can get visions when her mind is relaxed enough. In other words, unconscious or sleeping."

"Oh, cool." Goten said, wide eyed and suddenly awake.

Akemi glanced at him and then down at her feet. "It's scary." she said softly. "I never see good things..."

Sakura placed a hand on her sister's shoulder to comfort her as she continued. "The last few months she's been seeing something in particular. It wasn't until we arrived here and saw the arena that we realized... what she's been seeing will happen before we leave the planet."

"So what's she been seeing?" Trunks asked. If it were anyone but Akemi he'd be skeptical but he knew she had all kinds of mental powers that he didn't understand. This was just another odd ability she'd inherited from her Tanarian blood.

"A battle." Sakura replied. "Akemi says there's a lot of fighting going on all around the arena..."

"Well, it is a battle stadium." Cheri interrupted.

"No." Akemi said, shaking her head. Her eyes were starting to glisten from moisture. "They weren't fighting in the arena. It was around it. And there were a lot of them. I saw lots of reflected light, from armors I think. And things... I don't know... I never really paid attention to them. My... my focus was... was... was..."

"Was on me." Sakura finished for her. "Because the other thing in the vision she always saw, the thing that always drew her attention, was her crying over... over my body." she said, swallowing.

"Over your..." Trunks began, his eyes narrowed as he thought. And then the meaning hit him and his eyes widened in shock. "Wait, you mean that... she's been seeing you... dead?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah." 


	22. The Second Round

Chapter Twenty-two - The Second Round

The Grand Kai had settled into his seat at the Otherworld tournament arena again. He'd been right about the previous day's matches. They had all been disappointingly boring and short. There were two matches coming up today, however, that he was most interested in watching. The first fight would be Appla against Olibu, a promising match indeed. And the last match of the day would be Bardock and Pikkon. Then he would see for certain how much the Sai-jins had improved. Of course, before that would be the tournament in the Mortal Plane.

He had also asked the Supreme Kai and her apprentice to stay and witness the day's events. She had, at first, refused his invitation, stating that she needed to monitor events in Otherworld. He had managed to convince her to remain for the tournament by reminding her that if something was coming then it would be the mortals fighting in the tournament that would be standing against it. What better way to assess their chances than to witness them in battle?

Though, admittedly, the match-ups today for the tournament in the Mortal Plane didn't look to be nearly as exciting as those of the day before. Still, it would be better than nothing. So that's how it came to be that he had Mikomi, Kai of all Kais, sitting on his right hand side today with the other lower Kais now all on his left side. Kibito stood behind them, between his seat and hers.

"The day's events should be getting underway shortly." the Grand Kai said. "The match-ups today are a lot more un-even than they were yesterday. I doubt the fights will last very long this time. You may not get to fully experience or appreciate their powers today." Mikomi gave a slight nod to show she'd heard him, even though her mind was currently spread out through out the realm looking for some sign of anything amiss.

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Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

The children had been keeping their eyes peeled since leaving the palace looking for any signs of anything off or wrong. So far they hadn't seen anything and the tournament was already about to get underway again. It had taken a good deal of coaxing from Vegeta to keep the tournament going in the first place, and to stop the spectators from boarding the first shuttles home.

Not that several hundred hadn't already left with more preparing to later that day. Even though very few of them had been hurt, most of the injuries and all of the casualties being arena staff, a lot of people didn't like the fact that Kuriiza and Nova had been left to fight on the grounds. They considered that, and Nova's continued presence, a serious lapse in judgment and security.

Even so, there were more who had remained behind than had gone. In fact, the stands were just as packed today as they had been yesterday. Those who'd vacated their seats had been replaced by those who had come to the planet but hadn't managed to secure seats before the tickets had sold out. So it seemed, at least on the surface and at first glance, that no lasting damage had been done. But only time would tell for sure.

"Well, see you guys in a few minutes." Cheri said waving to them as she walked out into the Battle Pit with her opponent, Eskarga. After walking out a good distance the two fighters came to a stop and faced each other. Cheri wasn't particularly sure what to expect since she hadn't paid any attention to the first match the previous day. But she wasn't expecting any problems, she was four times stronger than this guy.

The match was called to a start and she lunged in at him. As she did his arms lanced out toward her and began to stretch catching her by surprise. She moved to the right to dodge around them and they swerved toward her. She went left and they followed, now almost on top of her. She stopped then and waited until they were closer and then, at the last second, shot up over them.

Turning to face down at the Namek now she was about to charge him again when she felt a pair of hands grab her ankles. Before she had time to react the Namek's arms snapped like whips and she was smashed into the ground before they retracted drawing her to him. Her head was only just beginning to clear from the sudden and unexpected impact with the ground when she felt his arms coil around her like snakes pinning her arms to her sides.

Opening her eyes again she found herself only a foot away from the Namek and bound tightly by his arms. She frowned and started to flex her arms to break free when she felt his hands grab the sides of her head and then felt the most unusual and uncomfortable sensation she'd ever felt. It wasn't painful at all but it felt bizarre and made her feel like she'd been crammed into a space ten sizes too small for her for the last few hours.

She also felt her power waning. /What... is this?/ she wondered, struggling to keep her power together so she could break free. Then she felt her eyes starting to droop and the edges of her vision blurred. /My energy. He must be... draining it somehow.../ she realized. /I have to... get free.../ "Sanjuu... Kinryoku!" she cried, silver light flaring up around her body.

That's when she realized how much power she'd already lost. Even with the Kinryoku her power was still below its normal maximum. Which left only one recourse. Gritting her teeth she called out "Kaio ken!" and in a burst of red threw her arms out to her sides and ripped her way free of Eskarga's grasp. The Namek stumbled back but soon recovered and then sprouted a new pair of arms.

Cheri surged in at him again and this time reached him before he had a chance to do anything, only having just regrown his limbs. Reaching him she slammed a fist into his stomach, then another and another in rapid fire succession, driving him back a few feet. She pulled back a little to launch a spinning kick at his face but suddenly her vision went black. And then she felt the hand gripping her face followed by the same sensation as before.

Once again her energy was being siphoned off. Only this time she couldn't power-up further to break free as she had done before. Scrunching up her face under the Namek's palm she thought quickly and an idea came to her. She was suddenly very grateful her arms were free and quickly brought her hands up to either side of her face, fingers spread. "Solar Flare!" her voice yelled, muffled by the hand.

Suddenly a blinding flash of light filled the battle pit and the monitors displaying the match. The glare turned Eskarga's vision solid white and the intensity of it made his eyes feel like they were on fire. He released the child and stumbled backward out of reflex, covering his eyes with his hands and trying to rub the light out of them.

Cheri was panting lightly as she landed on the ground and took a few steps back. She'd never heard of a Namek that could absorb energy before. /Damn it, my power's dropped off a lot now! I'm usually stronger than this in base. Damn. I was hoping to save this for later but it looks like I don't have any choice in the matter. And then it's straight for the win, I am so not giving him the chance to steal more energy!/

With these thoughts running through her head she let the Kaio Ken and Kinryoku fade as she lifted a few inches into the air and surged backward putting fifty yards between her and Eskarga. Landing again she reached down and undid the belt around her waist letting it fall to the ground. Then she reached down and removed her shoes, tossing them aside. She was now very happy she'd pulled on her green body suit before her gi when she'd changed for the tournament. Otherwise she wouldn't be doing this, simply to avoid being naked in front of all these people.

Then she hunched over and clenched her hands into fists. As she let out a scream her blue aura flared up around her blowing her hair up into the air. The dust and dirt around her began to lift into the air and swirl around as her tail swished back and forth. And then her eyes turned pure white as her pupils vanished and she threw her head back, her scream intensifying.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena, Competitors Area

"I doubt the matches today will be all that interesting." Yamcha said as he leaned back against the wall. "I don't think we'll have any more good fights until Videl and Gohan fight in the next round, and then Gohan and Vegeta in the semi-finals. And that's it. That Tatamo guy is powerful but there's no way he can beat Piccolo."

"I thought you were fighting Tatamo this round?" Hotaru asked.

Yamcha winced. "Don't remind me. After what he did to Mijima I'm thinking of just forfeiting. It's not worth the pain and humiliation." His eyes followed Cheri and Eskarga as they made their way out into the battle pit. "I'm looking forward to Cheri's match against him, though. She can't win, no way in hell, but it'll be interesting to see how strong she is."

"I'm not expecting anything quite as jaw dropping as what Goten and Trunks did, or Akemi for that matter, but I'm looking forward to it too." said Hotaru. "I think Vegeta is as well, both of them. And it's understandable. If she inherited Tien's ability and isn't a reduced capacity..."

Yamcha nodded. "Yeah. I've wondered a few times, since learning about the Sai-jins, what kind of power Tien would have were he one of them, just because of how much he's got as Human. I think, as a Sai-jin, he'd be even stronger than Gohan. Probably could have kept ahead of Goku even."

Out in the ring Cheri had just broken free of Eskarga's grasp. They watched the monitors as she began her assault. And then he had hold of her again. "Man, I'd still like to know how he can do that." Yamcha said as he watched the power reading for Cheri go down as Eskarga's went up.

It had shocked everyone, even Piccolo, when the Namek had absorbed Dubibub's energy blast the previous day and then fired it back at him. Even the powerful Namek didn't know how Eskarga could absorb energy. It wasn't exactly a standard option for Nameks. Yamcha turned his eyes away from the monitors as light flared up from them. When he looked back Cheri was just hunching over and beginning her scream.

As she threw her head back he heard gasps come from Vadora, Raditz, and Senator Vegeta. "Is she... doing what I think she is?" Vadora asked, the shock evident in her voice.

"I... think she is." the elder Vegeta said slowly.

"But..." Raditz began. "How is that... possible!?"

On the screen Cheri's aura had flared up even larger now. It looked like a spot light had been placed under her and was shining up into the sky. The ground shook and cracked as brown fur began to grow on her hands and face. Her swishing tail grew thicker and longer as her body swelled in size. Within seconds her gi tore as she out grew it, the green body suit expanding with her.

Her solid white eyes shifted to red as her height reached ten feet. Her face stretched, a large snout forming by the time she hit twenty feet. She was completely covered in fur by thirty feet. By the time she reached forty feet Eskarga's vision had cleared and he was looking up at her towering and still growing form in shock. Finally she came to a stop just short of fifty feet, her massive head looking down, her large eyes locking onto the Namek.

"No more games!" her voice boomed, several tones deeper than normal. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!" Once again silver flared around her and her already increased power climbed even higher. And then she threw a punch down at the ground, Eskarga still too shocked to move. The blow landed with a ground shaking crash and as she lifted her hand back up she revealed the Namek laying unconscious in a large crater.

Cheri stood there watching him, her tail swishing behind her, until the count finished. And then, with a loud roar, she threw head and arms back again. The silver aura vanished as the blue one returned. Her muscles pulsed and rippled as the red of her eyes faded to pink and then white. And then the hair began to recede and her body to shrink.

"That's unbelievable..." Vadora said, still in disbelief. "How can she... how can she turn into an Oozaru and back at will?" A few moments later Cheri walked back into the room smiling and carrying what was left of her gi, her belt once again tied around her waist covering her tail. "Cheri..." Vadora started as she approached.

The girl grinned more and scratched the back of her head. "Cool, huh?"

Yamcha looked over to Tatamo who was just about to head out to the battle pit. "Um, hey... uh, Tatamo, right?" he asked. The Sai-jin nodded. "Well, I'm just... gonna forfeit." he said, scratching the back of his head. Tatamo shrugged and then vanished. "And there he goes again, geez."

None of the other matches that day were as interesting as the first. Piccolo, as no nonsense as ever, knocked Akemi out before the girl could even transform. Being married didn't stop Tien from one hit K.O.ing Vadora either. Kavar, too, was down within seconds. Gainin managed a single punch to Gohan's stomach just as the hybrid transformed, and then the Cyborg was out cold.

Sakura made a good bid for her match, transforming and shooting to her full power as she charged at Senator Vegeta. But the elder Sai-jin was ready for her and knocked her out before she reached him. Raditz, too, had jumped to his full power upon charging the younger Vegeta. But that wasn't nearly enough against a Super Sai-jin of his level and he was down in seconds as well. In fact, the last seven matches took as long, together, as the entire first match.

Needless to say the spectators weren't particularly satisfied.

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's World, Otherworld Stadium

"Well, I was worried about that." the Grand Kai said with a sigh. "You should come back tomorrow Mikomi. Videl and Gohan's match is then. With that you'll see just what I was talking about, they're two of the strongest."

Mikomi nodded. "Thank-you, Zenryou." she said nodding. "I think I will come to see that battle. These mortals have me intrigued."

"If you think they're good just wait until you see the three here in action." King Kai said, leaning forward in his seat and smiling. "I can't wait to see how much they've all improved."

The West Kai snorted. "Pikkon's still going to win. Just like he did seven years ago."

Now it was King Kai's turn to snort. "Pikkon only barely won last time!" he said. "And you've seen how strong Vegeta is now, there's no way he's passed up Goku and Bardock! Pikkon doesn't stand a chance!"

Mikomi smiled as the two lower Kai's traded taunts while the second round of the Otherworld Tournament was called to a start, the first match of the day being Appla Vs. Olibu. The two dead warriors stepped into the ring to cheers from the crowd. King Kai was looking forward to these matches, they'd be more entertaining than the ones in the Mortal Plane had been. 


	23. The Strongest Human

Chapter Twenty-three - The Strongest Human

Appla and Olibu had begun their battle almost five minutes ago now and they were still just warming up. As the two arced through the sky, clashing on occasion, flashes of red and white lit up the stadium. The Sai-jin had powered up a twenty-six fold Kaio Ken just to stay even with Olibu who was stronger than even an untransformed Goku or Bardock. As Appla dodged around an energy blast and then countered with her own that hit her opponent square in the chest Bardock left out a cheer.

Appla heard his voice over the din of the crowd and smirked. If there was one thing about a battle that Sai-jins liked more than a challenge it was impressing their Mate with their power and skill. She charged in at him, slipped around his large fist, and came around behind him smashing her knee into his back. Then, spinning about, she snapped out her leg and smashed it into the side of his head.

His arm shot out and he backhanded her in the stomach but she shrugged it off and countered with a punch aimed at his face. The Human managed to slip it and then slam his knee into her chest driving her back. Holding his right arm out to his side he cupped his hand and blue-white energy gathered in it quickly. "Scatter Bolt!" he cried, thrusting his arm forward. The energy ball exploded sending nearly two dozen energy beams out on random paths, all of them arcing back in towards Appla.

She pulled to a stop and saw the energy coming towards her. As the energy reached her she moved quickly, dodging the blasts she could, deflecting others, and sending those she was able to back at Olibu. Of the twenty blasts that had converged on the Sai-jin the large Human only had to dodge four of them in his charge toward her. Reaching her he slammed an uppercut into her stomach doubling her over and then landed a double handed blow to her back driving her toward the edge of the ring.

Appla saw the stone tiles racing up toward her and quickly flipped around so that she was looking up at her opponent. As her feet touched the ring she pushed off and launched back up at him. "Kaio Ken times 30!" she cried, her red aura flaring in intensity as she poured on more speed. Olibu barely managed to slip around her first punch but her second caught him across the jaw.

"Wow!" Goku cheered as the two warriors turned into a blur of punches and kicks, bright flashes and thunderous cracks marking the connected blows. "I hadn't known she'd improved this much!"

"Neither did I." Bardock said, rather in awe himself. "She's not really trained with me in five years."

"She's been training with Olibu a lot." Sora said. "Understandably, though, since they're a lot closer in power than you and her."

Bardock nodded. "Yeah, you do get more out of the training when you're closer in power with your sparing partner. Still, she's made some big gains in power... even more than Goku and I have."

Sora glanced over toward Bardock and raised an eyebrow. Before she could say anything Goku spoke up. "Yeah. She's made a lot more improvement than us. More than double our own!"

Bardock nodded again. "Even considering that she's weaker than us, which makes it easier to gain in power, that's still impressive. I wonder if... the reduced capacity trait simply doesn't come into effect when dead..."

"Probably not." Sora said, turning from the two Sai-jins and back to the battle. The two warriors were still swinging and dodging rapidly, sending out thunderous cracks every few seconds as blows made contact. "I've noticed a lot of the rules of physical bodies are different here."

Back in the sky above the ring Olibu dodged around a kick from Appla and then saw his opening. He moved quickly, snapping out a kick that slammed into her side. And then he slipped behind her and slammed his open palms into back knocking her down toward the ring again. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the stone tiles racing up to meet her. "Kaio Ken... times 50!" she cried, and in a burst of red she vanished.

There was a flash of red and a loud crack in the sky a second later and Olibu rocketed backward. All those watching the battle saw was a quick burst of red where Olibu had been previously and then another flash and crack came that knocked the powerful Human skyward. Three more blows came in quick succession, the final one slamming the Human face first into the center of the ring smashing out a large hole in it.

In the sky Appla pulled to a stop and gazed down at him. Her bright and thick red aura pulsing about her body, the rushing energy making her hair wave about every which way as though in a fierce breeze. The mushroom shaped announcer blinked a few times and then started the count. As he reached five Olibu groaned and stirred. By seven the large Human was on his hands and knees and then back in a standing position.

"Right then." he said, brushing the dust created by the pulverized ring off his clothes. "Time to get serious. Double Kaio Ken!" A red aura flared up around him, his power quickly surging to just above Appla's, and he shot up at her. Appla slipped to the side around his punch deflecting it away from her head as she did and then thrust her knee up into his stomach with a loud crack.

Before she could move to hit him again his elbow slammed into the side of her head. Then one of his fists smashed into her stomach, a hard right pounded her across the jaw, she took three knees to the face, and then he did a front flip and smashed the back of his heels into the top of her head sending her careening toward the stands.

The audience below her cried out in shock and began to scatter as they realized she was coming their way. Only a few feet short of impacting the still crowded stands she changed directions in a burst of red that knocked over everyone around her. As she shot in toward Olibu again she pulled back both of her arms and began to gather energy around her fists. Bright pink energy around her left hand and neon green around the right.

Olibu frowned as he saw the energies forming. He'd witnessed the attack a few times and knew what it could do. And knew how unpleasant its effects were. A moment later Appla was only feet away and quickly thrust her arms forward and slammed the energies together. "Sonic Blast!"

The Human closed his eyes tight and thrust his arms toward her and sent out a burst of Ki. The energy impacted the sound wave from the Sonic Blast and the two exploded with a loud crack. Even through his eyelids the bright flash from the attack still had him seeing spots so he left his eyes closed and focused on Appla's Ki. He just managed to dodge a kick aimed for his chin but then her leg slammed into the side of his head.

The Sai-jin thrust out her arm aiming the punch for his face but his own hand caught it as he opened his eyes. Grinning his other arm shot out and his fist slammed into her stomach. Then, holding tightly to her hand, he began spinning and spinning. After about fifty rotations he let go of her pitching her down toward the ring and then sending a blast of blue-white Ki after her.

A moment later there was a loud crash and the entire stadium shook as she slammed into the ring. And then the Ki blast hit and exploded in a deafening explosion that temporarily blinded the spectators. As the glare faded chunks of the ring rained down on them. "Man, they keep this up and I wont have a ring for my match!" Goku cried brushing dust out of his hair.

He stopped as he felt the stadium begin to tremble and then heard a building cry coming from within the dust that obscured Appla... and whatever remained of the ring. Suddenly a burst of wind washed out, blasting away the falling dust and revealing the Sai-jin hunched over, fists clenched, and a look of intense concentration on her face as her bright blue aura danced around her wildly.

Her hair long spiky began to lift up into the air from the breeze, and then the loose debris around her followed suit. "Hey, no way..." Goku said softly. "Is she...?"

Suddenly she threw her arms and head back as her scream intensified and a blinding flash of gold filled the stadium. As the glare faded Goku and Bardock's eyes widened. Appla's hair now had three large tufts jutting off of it, one on the top of her head and in the middle of it that shot up at about a seventy degree angle for about half a foot. And then one on either side of it that came up at about a thirty degree angle.

Other than that the only differences to her hair was that it was now a little more unruly looking, and golden. A golden aura pulsed and swirled around her and her teal eyes gazed up at Olibu, a satisfied smirk on her face. In a flash of gold she surged up at her opponent and cocked back her fist to land a final blow to end the match.

"Sorry Appla!" Olibu called as she charged him. "Super Sai-jin or not, I have no intention of losing here! Kaio Ken times 10!" His bright red aura flared large and then he vanished. Appla barely had time to register that his power had increased before he vanished, and no time to register that he'd vanished before his fist smashed into her face and drove her back down into the ring.

She hit with a massive crash that obliterated what little had remained of the ring causing it to collapse completely. Her golden aura sputtered and then flashed and died as her power dropped. The mushroom shaped announcer blinked a few times and then began the count as the crowd cheered.

"She never mentioned she'd transformed..." Bardock said, still in shock.

"Yeah, she hadn't said anything to me either." Goku said, pouting a little.

Bardock smirked. "Oh well. Guess she wanted it to be a surprise. Based on that power I sensed from her she's been able to transform for a while, she's got full control over the form just like us."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, I felt it too. A hundred fold increase! But man, just a ten fold Kaio Ken and Olibu was more than twice as strong as her!" Suddenly Goku started to grin.

"I know that look Goku, what are you thinking?" Bardock asked.

"Oh, just a few training ideas." the Sai-jin replied, his grin widening.

Bardock chuckled and shook his head. "You'd better get down there, your match is starting soon." he said as Appla was lifted from the ruins of the ring.

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's World, Otherworld Stadium

"So, we've got yet another Super Sai-jin." The Grand Kai said as Appla transformed. "One with complete balance and control as well. Impressive."

"It's been a while..." Mikomi began. She'd only gotten a quick glimpse of the form when the two mortals had transformed earlier but it had been thousands of years since she'd gotten a good look at the transformation. And she'd never been there in person to witness the power it granted, knowing only the strength of past Super Sai-jins by way of comparison with those who they'd managed to defeat in battle. "I had heard it was a powerful transformation but I had no idea it yielded this much of an increase."

"Only after proper training." King Kai said. "Goku and Bardock figured that out seven years ago, shortly before they died."

Mikomi glanced over toward the short North Kai, a thoughtful look her face. "You say there were two Super Sai-jins living just seven years ago?"

"Oh, more than that." King Kai said. "There were six of them then."

Kibito blinked. "Six Super Sai-jins!? At the same time?!"

King Kai nodded. "Yes. All transformed within a span of a few years. In fact, two of them transformed on the same day, at the exact same time. Even with two of them now dead and one of them back in his own time, there are still five living Super Sai-jins."

"Super Sai-jin has always been such a rare thing before." Mikomi said as the count below hit ten and Olibu was declared the winner. "Before now I don't think we ever had more than two at the same time."

"There were three, once." the Grand Kai said as the tournament ring began to glow white. "And I don't expect the Super Sai-jin count to decrease any time soon. In fact, it will only grow more. Unlike in previous generations there are Super Sai-jins around now that will be having children. Such as Gohan and the two young boys, Goten and Trunks. As you know the transformation is passed along to offspring...."

Mikomi nodded. "Well, I have been expecting it to happen eventually." she said.

"As was I." the Grand Kai said with a nod. "I just wasn't expecting the second level to be among the ones passed down."

"What?" Kibito asked, looking toward the Grand Kai as the tournament ring stopped glowing and revealed it was once again whole.

"Young Gohan has attained the second level. Assuming he ever has children of his own it will be passed on. Also, the current Sai-jin King has reached the level as well, and thus should he have another child they shall inherit the power as well."

/Two Sai-jins, both living, that have reached the second level.../ Mikomi thought, in shock. Then she turned to face the Grand Kai. "I see why you have such faith in the power of these mortals, Zenryou." Mikomi said, smiling lightly. "I seem to remember that the last to reach that level easily bested you in battle."

Zenryou frowned a little and tugged at his clothes. "I wouldn't quite say 'easily'...." he said after a moment.

Suddenly a loud crack sounded from below as Goku backhanded his opponent, the alien having tried to zip around behind him for a sneak attack. The dead warrior fell to the ground unconscious and ten counts later Goku was on his way back up into the stands.

"Well, at least Bardock and Pikkon's match should be a good one." the Grand Kai said.

"Hey, North Kai." the West Kai started. "How about we make a bet on Pikkon and Bardock's match? If Pikkon wins you have to mow the grass on my planet for a thousand years!"

King Kai scowled at the other Kai and then snorted. "Fine, but when Bardock wins you have to mow the grass on my world for the next thousand years. And you have to use your teeth!"

"Ha! Like anyone can beat Pikkon! You've got a deal!" 


	24. Possibilities

Chapter Twenty-four - Possibilities

As those in Otherworld were getting ready to watch Appla and Olibu's match Vegeta was making his way out into the battle pit with his father, Hotaru, Piccolo, and Nova. He had decided that now was as good a time as any to deal with the whole Changeling issue. Perhaps the best time as most of the people in the galaxy were currently watching the arena.

As the audience noticed the group flying out, the four faces of the Sennari and the female Changeling who now wore no disguise, a sudden silence fell over them. They knew that, at last, they would be getting the information they had been calling for since the end of the previous day's matches.

The five of them flew out to the middle of the battle pit and landed, the arena's cameras following them closely and the powerful microphones trained on them to pick up anything they said. "Many of you have expressed... concerns about Nova's presence here, and the reasons for it." Vegeta began. "Until now we have been unable to release the information as we were still tying up a few points.

"Yes, Nova is... or I guess I should say, was... related to the Cold Family. Like in our own past, when Cantala resisted Rasbara, her branch of the family has resisted first Blizard's line and then Frigid's. She was a member of a resistance group within the Changeling population, though she did not work actively until Cold's death on Earth. Since then her group has taken control of the former Cold Empire to fill the void their demise has created, with her at the head.

"She and her people have spent the last seven years rebuilding themselves and establishing a new order within their people. Then, a few years ago, Nova learned that there was one more member of the Cold Family left. One who sought to continue that Empire. Kuriiza was one of the reasons she came here, to see me. To warn us that he was out to cause problems with the Sennari so that rebuilding his family's empire would be easier."

Vegeta turned where he stood, his eyes gazing over what he could see of the distant crowds. The individual people nothing more than specks at this distance. "Other than this she came to offer us assurances that she and her people would not be causing us trouble. The Changelings that were not with the Cold Family suffered as much, if not more, than the rest of us."

The Sai-jin royal paused as a murmur built up in the crowd. He'd expected that. People didn't like it when they were told their blind and blanket hatred was misplaced. "Yes, you heard me right. The Cold Family viewed other Changelings as their greatest threat, not some outside race. They were arrogant enough to believe that only beings such as themselves could rival them in power. So those Changelings that opposed them were dealt with more severely than other races.

"Even those who did not outright oppose the Changelings, or who worked directly for the Cold Family, were oppressed and monitored closely. And so they, just like us, are recovering. Rebuilding. And they wish to rebuild more than just their own people. They wish to rebuild their ties with the other races of the galaxy on more equal and cooperative footing."

Again the noise of the crowd built but this time Vegeta did not wait for it to die on its own. He raised his right arm, his hand closed into a fist, and the Sai-jins in the crowd instantly went silent. A few glares from them soon silenced the others in the crowd as well. "I believe they deserve the chance, and they know it will take time and effort." he paused for a moment and then glanced over to Nova. "And now I shall let her address you herself."

Nova nodded to Vegeta and then gazed around her at the crowd. She could already hear the restless murmurs building. "As King Vegeta has said..." she began. "I am Nova, current Queen of the Changelings. I have taken up the mantle of ruler of the Changelings to prevent senseless in-fighting and violence in bids to claim the throne. I, and my people, do apologize for the suffering caused by the Cold Family...."

She trailed off there and glanced at Vegeta and the others as the noise in the stands had built rapidly while she'd talked. It was now next to impossible for even those standing with her to hear her. Piccolo scowled and raised an arm firing a blast of energy into the air. It rose about two hundred feet and then exploded in a bright flash of white and a thunderous crack that shook the entire stadium.

The crowd went almost completely silent in seconds. "You can complain all you want to later." the Namek growled. "But right now keep your mouths shut and listen." At this the murmurs that had remained died down to levels even the Namek's ears couldn't pick up.

Nova gave him a small nod and slight smirk and then returned to her speech. "I understand that you do not trust my race. I hope, in time, those wounds can be healed and our races can live together in friendship." she paused again and took a deep breath. "But I have come here with more than just kind words and hopes for the future. I have come to set up a process with the Sennari. A process to return those worlds stolen by the Cold Family to their rightful people."

The noise exploded around them much louder than ever before. Not even the matches had earned a volume of noise this great. This time Piccolo and Vegeta let them go, let them talk. They all understood exactly what conversations were now occurring. Displaced races were discussing the prospects of returning home, something they never could have dreamed of just a decade ago. Meanwhile races that had come to inhabit those worlds were discussing what would happen to them when the original owners returned to reclaim them.

As happy and excited as some were others were distressed and worried. The matter would be cleared up shortly but it was best to give them time to absorb the situation first, before going on. It was a good ten minutes before the volume began to subside enough the five in the battle pit could hear themselves thinking again. Noticing the settling of the crowds Vegeta raised his arm and closed fist again and brought them down to a low murmur.

Knowing she wouldn't get complete silence Nova decided to continue over the current talking and whispering. "Those of you who have taken up residence on worlds taken by the Cold Family will not simply be thrown out." she said. "This will be a long process that will take decades, perhaps even centuries, to complete... but I am intent on seeing it through to the end. Working together with the Sennari we will review each race and each planet's situation on a case by case basis."

Her eyes roamed over the crowds and she noticed that the noise had faded almost completely now. "Many of the taken worlds are uninhabited now, formally used by the Cold Family as military outposts and abandon now by our people. They will simply be returned and aid will be given to reestablishing the cities of those worlds. For those worlds now occupied by another race we will hold discussions between the original inhabitants and the current."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, collecting her thoughts. This here could easily be a stumbling point but she believed she and the others had come up with the best solution. "The Sennari and Changeling nation will together arbitrate the meetings between these races. We will see first if co-habitation between the races is possible. Failing that we will attempt to work out another solution acceptable to both races. But...."

She trailed off. Part of her wished Vegeta was giving this portion of the speech but the effort was being spear-headed by the Changelings which meant it was her proposal to make. "But in the cases of an impass in the matter.... The original inhabitants hold the rights of the planet. We WILL do our best to come to a peaceful and equally fair outcome for all but that may not always be possible.

"There are many worlds that are both abandoned and whose original inhabitants are no long around, destroyed by the Cold Family. These worlds will be used for those displaced by this process. I know it is a lot to ask, to have entire civilizations pick up and move to a new world. We will do what we can to make this as smooth and comfortable as possible, and to avoid having to uproot races from worlds they have lived on for decades, or even centuries. But concessions will have to be made and favor will always go to the original inhabitants...."

Nova stopped as the crowds erupted again. She could pick out some panicked cries but they were few in number. For the most part the noise was cheers and applause. Behind her Vegeta smirked as he looked around. Who would have thought, just a week ago, that a Changeling could stand on Planet Vegeta and get cheers from a crowd like this.

And, as he looked closer, he realized she wasn't just getting cheers, just getting applause. People were starting to stand up. Never would he have dreamed that a Changeling would recieve a standing ovation on Planet Vegeta. It was a good sign, a very good sign.

The issue would be with worlds that didn't want to concede to the original inhabitants at all. Ones that would go so far as to pull from the Sennari so that the galactic government had no power over them, no saying in the course of their world. Strong arming those worlds and forcing them to cooperate just wouldn't be viable. Hopefully the races that had wanted to return to those worlds would be content with remaining where they were, or moving to one of the abandoned planets.

He knew that the Tanarians were already in debate about what they would do. Hotaru had spoken to those on the planet and contacted the Tanarian council still back on her world about the issue. They had learned earlier that morning that their original world was now the home of another race, one that had moved in a few years after they'd fled, upon purchasing the planet from Frieza, along with a fifty year 'security contract' that said Frieza wouldn't attack them to remove them from the planet as he had done with the Tanarians.

He hoped most races would be as easy to work with as Hotaru's. The people were already leaning to not even going back to their original world. Many of them wanted to, older generations wanted to go to where they were born and to show their children their home while younger generations wanted to see where they had come from. But they did not want to displace another race for their own ends. A race that had done nothing to them beyond buy their world, after it was already cleared, because their own world was dying.

What had struck Vegeta as most impressive was that it was Sakura, the ten year old princess, that had come up with the current plan being debated. Allow the fifty year contract the race had taken out with Frieza to expire, give them the twenty or so years that remained to find themselves another planet and to prepare for the move, and then reclaim their world. After all, the race had already been planning for a 'worst case scenario' where Frieza came back at the end of the contract.

Vegeta spared the Tanarian queen a glance as he thought back seven years to when his son from the future had come back with Sakura and when he had learned that they were mates. He didn't know if the same course of events would happen in this time-line or not but he hoped some of Sakura's logic and sense of duty would rub off on Trunks before his mother spoiled him too much.

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's World, Otherworld Stadium

Bardock and Pikkon stood center ring, each holding the other's right fist in their left hand. A red aura was flashing brightly around Bardock while a blue one pulsed around Pikkon, each warrior trying to break the other's grip and get in a blow while they were off balance. "You've gotten better." Pikkon said, smiling. "Last time you couldn't even keep up with me with the Kaio Ken."

It was true. Seven years ago not even his maximum ability with the Kaio Ken was enough to keep up with the dead alien when the two had fought in the semi-finals, even with the alien still wearing his weights. Bardock hadn't even known that at the time, though. Because of that he'd stayed with just the Kaio Ken, wanting to make the fight interesting, and had ended up losing.

Goku had done better right from the start. His own maximum power with the Kaio Ken hadn't been much below that of Pikkon's weighted power. It had been close enough that the dead alien had elected to remove his weights, much to the shock of the three Sai-jins present, and King Kai. That's when Goku had transformed and they soon learned Pikkon's full power.

He hadn't been as powerful as Perfect Cell but he had been stronger than the highest level of power Cell had used for most of the tournament, including during his fight with Goku. It, coupled with the alien's skill, had been enough to get passed even Goku's skill, and his strategic usage of Relocation, and win the tournament.

But things were different now. Now Bardock was only using a nine-fold Kaio Ken and his power was greater than that of Pikkon while wearing his weights. Bardock smirked. This time would not see a repeat of their first battle. Bardock suddenly leaned back and then rocketed his head forward smashing it into Pikkon's. The blow broke the other warriors grip on the Sai-jins fist and Bardock used it to punch him the face knocking him back as he released his hand.

Pikkon did a couple of flips in the air and then landed with a soft click. Suddenly the green man began to glow blue. Not an aura but actual blue light from his skin. The Sai-jin remembered this move from the last tournament, from when it had been used on Goku. He braced himself and readied for it as the alien called out, "Hyper Flash Attack!"

Just as the blue light began to fade Bardock made his move. Both warriors vanished from the ring and then, and instant later, re-appeared with a loud bang and crash. Dust and debris shot into the air from the ring and rained down on the spectators. "Impressive." the Grand Kai said from where he sat.

"What exactly happened?" Kibito asked.

"I'm not entirely certain how Pikkon's Hyper Flash Attack works." began the Grand Kai. "Somehow he is able to teleport and attack at the same time. But Bardock just use the Yardrat technique of Relocation to intercept him mid attack."

Back in the ring the battle had resumed once again even though the dust cloud had yet to settle. Bardock ducked under a roundhouse from Pikkon and then came up driving a punch for the warrior's lower back. But the Sai-jin's fist caught only his cape as he slipped around the swing and then shoved his elbow back smashing it into his face. The Sai-jin stumbled back a step as Pikkon spun and then slammed an open palm into his chest knocking him back.

He flew out of the dust cloud a couple of feet and was nearing the edge of the ring before he vanished. There was a loud crack a second later and a small shockwave blew apart a section of the settling dust cloud. Bardock had appeared behind Pikkon and attempted a downward punch into the top of his head but the alien had turned and managed to block with his arm.

Bardock quickly pulled back and then spun around snapping out a kick for Pikkon's head but the green man deflected it with his free arm and then slammed his knee into Bardock's stomach. "You may have a slight advantage in power." he said as the Sai-jin pulled to a stop. "But I have more than five thousand years of experience."

The Sai-jin smirked. "I'm only just getting warmed up. Kaio Ken times ten!" There was a burst of red as the Kaio Ken flared up around Bardock again and then the Sai-jin was on the move charging his opponent once more. Pikkon was unprepared for the sudden increase in speed and caught a fist to the face that sent him surging toward the stands.

He was only a few feet away when his body suddenly flashed blue and then he vanished. Almost instantly there was a loud crack and then crash as Bardock slammed into the ring. Pikkon appeared a half second later at the ring's edge facing the stands. He turned to face the downed warrior who was slowly climbing back to his feet. Once he faced him again he brought his arms up and then started going through a set of motions Goku recognized from his fight seven years ago.

"Thunder... Flash...."

"GAH!" West Kai cried as Pikkon's voice rang out. "Not again!"

The Grand Kai shared in the sentiment, especially since Pikkon was facing in their direction. He stood quickly and held out his arms as the dead warrior's voice called out once more. "Attack!" Suddenly flame like energy surged out from Pikkon's outstretched arms and closed fists. Bardock had only just gotten to his feet and barely had time to raise his arms to block.

The attack had only been going for a couple of seconds when a scream began to sound over it. And then, in a bright flash of gold, the alien's attack was shattered. Bardock was panting lightly, a few bits of his armor cracked, as he lowered his arms from deflecting the attack. "Well, that's that." the Grand Kai said as he took his seat again.

Kibito blinked as he stared down into the ring at the Sai-jin. Golden aura pulsing around him and golden hair standing straight up. "This is... unbelievable..." he said slowly. "He is... nearly as powerful as I am."

"It truly is remarkable." Mikomi agreed, just as the Sai-jin vanished. There was a loud crack followed by another a second later as Pikkon slammed into the wall between the stage and the stands which made Bardock the winner.

"Ha!" King Kai cried. "Looks like I've got a new lawn mower!"

"No way!" West Kai countered. "That doesn't count, Pikkon never took off his weighted clothing!"

"It does too count! You never said he had to take it off, just lose, and he lost!" King Kai retorted. "And you kept gloating last time when Pikkon beat Bardock before he could transform. This is no different!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

Elsewhere in the stands Appla stood up with Sora so they could make their way down to meet up with Goku and Bardock again and head out for the day. "Well, looks like it's Goku and Bardock in the finals." she said.

"I didn't really expect otherwise." The Tanarian said as she made her way through the crowd. "Pikkon's only hope of getting that far this year was to take out Bardock before he transformed. Though from what I felt today the Finals should be worth watching."

Appla nodded in agreement. Goku and Bardock were still really close in power. Goku had pulled further ahead, just slightly, in the last seven years. But it still wasn't enough to tip the balance any. 


	25. When Visions Collide

Chapter Twenty-five - When Visions Collide

The kids were making their way to the VIP box slowly. They knew that Hotaru was heading out with the Changeling queen to make an announcement and they wanted to talk to both her and Yamcha at the same time. "I guess I can see why they don't believe you." Cheri said as they walked to the Runner. "If I didn't know you guys so well I wouldn't either. But you know how adults are. They think they know so much more and better than we do."

"Well, they're right most of the time." Sakura admitted. "But it is frustrating that they wont listen to us just because we're kids. I mean, if it was Videl getting the visions instead of Akemi they'd be all over that."

"But your people have all kinds of mental powers." Trunks said. "So why don't they believe you just off of that?"

"Because." Akemi said, staring at her feet as she walked. "No one has ever seen the future before."

Sakura nodded. "She's right. Mom told us that. There's never been a Tanarian in all of history with the power to see the future. So she says it's not an ability we can have and that means what Akemi sees are just dreams, nothing more. But we've seen them come to pass. And Akemi has mental abilities far more advanced than any other Tanarian I know of."

"Maybe it's the halfling effect?" Trunks suggested. "That's what grandpa calls it with Gohan, Goten, and I."

"Thought of that." Sakura said. "And Human DNA does affect us. It's why Akemi and I can use our Ki already. But I have next to no mental abilities. The lowest of any Tanarian, actually. So mom and dad say that Human DNA reduces mental powers, not enhances them. Which means...."

"Another reason not to believe." Cheri said with a sigh. "Well, like you said this morning, they wont have a choice soon. Espeically if Akemi sees it again and can give more specific details so that they can't just call it a coincidence later."

The five kids climbed onto the Runner as they listened to the speech outside playing through the stadium speakers. They were silent the rest of the journey to the VIP box and when they got there the speech outside was only just coming to an end. They made their way to the VIP box to wait for Hotaru's return, they knew they'd not be leaving just yet as the grown-ups wanted to hold a quick meeting there before heading off.

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Galactic Games Arena, VIP box

"Are you sure?" Mijima asked. She currently had a cell phone up to her ear and was talking to the woman she'd left in charge of Capsule Corp. when she'd left Earth. "And still no idea what the cause was?" she continued a moment later. Finally she sighed. "Alright, keep looking into it, call me if you find anything." she said hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Bulma asked.

Mijima shook her head. "An explosion at the North City plant." she said. "Remember I mentioned the power issues we'd been having? Well apparently something just caused a massive backfeed of energy into the reactor and overloaded the entire thing...." She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Half of North City is gone."

"Half of... oh my...." Bulma said slowly. North City was a big city, at least four hundred thousand people lived there. "And they don't know the cause?"

The blonde shook her head again. "No idea. We still hadn't figured out what was causing the power issues."

"Power issues?" Vadora asked. "What kind of power issues?"

"The reactor was generating power but it wasn't going out to the plant." Mijima said. "We'd gone over it for months and couldn't find the cause no matter what we did. Maybe I should have just had them shut it down for good, until we'd figured out the cause...."

"I wonder...." Vadora said, thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Gohan asked.

"I'm wondering if that plant was having the same problem as us with the generator for the barrier." she explained.

Bulma's eyes widened a little as she sat up. "I hadn't even considered that. I suppose it's possible.... Mijima, call back to Earth later and have them run a full energy pattern scan with the satelite network. They're looking primarily for Transal Energy but have them scan for all kinds."

The blonde woman nodded as the door opened and the kids entered the room. The five of them moved over to a corner away from the others and took a seat. "So, how are we going to explain this anyway?" Cheri asked. "Just go 'Akemi saw the future again' or what?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm not really sure. But I do know I'm going to make them listen." she said. "Especially with the differences to her vision this time. If those other scenes are related to what she's been seeing here...."

"Well if they don't listen we'll just tell them to!" Goten said, scowling. "We've already shown them there's more to us than they thought."

Sakura smiled and ruffled Goten's hair. "Yeah, who would have thought a little runt like you would be stronger than Trunks' grandfather?" Goten's scowl vanished and was replaced by grin.

"Speaking of that," Trunks started. "Sakura, do you think you could teach me the Kinryoku?"

Sakura laughed. "Sure." she said. "You know, I'm surprised the future you never learned it." she said after a moment. "In all the stories and videos we've seen he never once used it, but Goten's proven it can be used as a Super Sai-jin. And my future self knew it so she could have taught him."

"Probably didn't think it would work." Cheri said. "When mom was teaching me the Kaio Ken I'd said I wanted to learn the Kinryoku too, like dad. But she said Sai-jin's can't use the Kinryoku."

"But we can both use it!" Goten cried.

"We're half Sai-jin." Cheri corrected. "And until I used the Kinryoku for the first around mom she didn't think it made a difference but it apparently does. So my bet is the future Trunks never bothered to try it thinking it wouldn't work."

"Makes sense." Trunks said. "It's why I never bothered to learn it before."

The five of them stopped as the door opened again and those who'd made the speech re-entered the room. They all glanced at each other and nodded as they got to their feet and made their way over to where the adults were all gathered. "...it's going to be a long process, decades at the least." Nova was saying.

"But it's a start." Hotaru replied. "I doubt it'll be at all smooth but it's something for them to chew on."

"Exactly..." the younger Vegeta said. Before he could say anything more he noticed the five kids standing just off to the side of their group and staring at them, fidgeting a bit. "What?" he asked them, drawing the attention of the others as well.

"Sakura? Is something wrong?" Hotaru asked, seeing the look on her daughter's face.

"Akemi saw it, again." Sakura said. "And more this time." Her mom went to say something but she scowled and interupted her. "I know what you've said but I know that you're wrong. I know what Akemi can do."

"What are they talking about?" Vadora asked.

"Akemi can see the future." Cheri explained.

Vegeta's eyes instantly darted down to the little girl and he stared at her. But it was Yamcha that spoke as he shook his head. "Hotaru's already explained that isn't possible." he said.

"What?" Trunks started. "Just like it isn't possible for us to be Super Sai-jins? Or it isn't possible for a Sai-jin to use the Kinryoku?"

"Or for someone to willingly transform into an Oozaru?" Cheri added.

Sakura glanced back at them both, smiling, and then turned back to them again. "She's been seeing it for months, she's been seeing this arena for months, since before we'd ever seen it. Only this time it was different because... well, we're not sure. Something... caused there to be more."

"More?" Bulma asked. She'd noticed Vegeta staring at Akemi and she knew why. She was the only one in their group that knew about Vegeta's recuring dreams. Dreams he'd become convinced were, somehow, visions of the future. And she knew that last night there had been more to his as well.

Akemi nodded. "Yeah... it was... different." she said slowly, scrunching up her face. "It felt like someone else was there with me but there wasn't anyone. And I wasn't here at first but in this city that was smashed and on fire." She turned her gaze up to Vegeta then and their eyes met. "He was fighting some guy with a tail and wearing red and black armor. And then it went dark and the tail guy was standing over these others saying..." her face scrunched up more as she tried to remember.

"And this is where it ends." Vegeta said, his voice barely above a whisper. The words had been burned into his mind as he'd poured over them, and the entire vision, most of the morning. "Your time has expired, your power has gone...."

Akemi's eyes widened. "That was it!" she cried. "That's what he said!"

"That was... you I saw..." Vegeta said slowly, as he thought of the small form that had and hadn't been there, at the same time, during his dream.

"What's going on Vegeta?" Yamcha asked.

The Sai-jin closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he was still looking at Akemi. "What else did you see?" he asked.

Akemi stared at him for a moment and then smiled and nodded. Finally! Someone believed! "After the dark place I was at home on the beach but everything was on fire! And then I saw all these people and faces and heard all these voices... I couldn't make out a lot on that. After that... after that was..."

Sakura rested a hand on Akemi's shoulder as the girl started to tear up. "It was her normal vision after that." she said. "Here, at the arena, with a lot of fighting going on all around the place and me... dead."

Bulma turned to Vegeta and put a hand on his arm. He glanced back at her and nodded as he moved over to the com panel and pressed a button. A moment later a voice came over the line. "Rowan, palace operations."

"This is King Vegeta. I want the entire guard and defense force put on maximum alert status, now."

"I... yes sir." she said before he cut the line.

"Vegeta?" Hotaru asked, confused. "What...."

Vegeta glanced from her to the kids again and spoke to Akemi once more. "When you were in the city at the start." he began. "What did you see, exactly?"

Akemi frowned a little as she thought, trying to remember exactly what she'd seen. "The guy with the tail said something to you and made you mad." she said. "You attacked him but he knocked you away and he was walking toward you when two others showed up... they looked..." She shook her head a bit. "They reminded me of Goten." she said. "But they got knocked away too. They got up to do something and then it changed to the beach."

Vegeta sighed. He'd been hoping she'd have a few answers but she'd only seen what he usually saw, though a bit more of it.

"Would someone mind explaining to me what's going on?" Piccolo demanded.

Vegeta glanced at the Namek and then turned to Hotaru and Yamcha. "I don't know what you may or may not think about your daughter's powers but I can tell you this right now, she's right. She is seeing the future. At least, I believe she is."

"But... why?" asked Yamcha.

"Because what she saw, she just explained... I've been seeing it for years. Since before Namek. Since my battle with Nappa."

His father stiffened a little as he looked toward his son. "The nightmare you mentioned the night you... kidnapped Bulma... to go to Namek?"

Vegeta nodded. "One and the same." he said. "I don't know how far off it is, though. I do know that the destroyed city she mentioned is West City."

"What!?" Yamcha cried in shock.

"I've seen the ruins of Capsule Corp." Vegeta explained. "Since before I even knew what a Capsule was. And I believe that... the man she saw me fighting... is Raven's mate."

"But... this just isn't..." Hotaru said slowly. "It's not possible. It's just not possible, Tanarians don't have ability to see the future."

Sakura looked up to her mom. "It's like we've told you before, Akemi's got a lot of power. I mean, she can even leave her body! She's..." Sakura shook her head and then turned to her sister. "Show them."

"Show them what?" Akemi asked, a little confused.

"Remember what we talked about before we left the palace back home?" Sakura asked. "How we were going to try to convince mom and dad after the tournament?"

Akemi thought for a moment and then suddenly smiled and nodded. "Yeah! I remember! Ok, I can do that!" Everyone watched in silence as Akemi closed her eyes and then just stood there, her face scrunching up slowly as she concentrated. Chi-Chi suddenly let out a gasp of shock as the chair she was sitting in, along with all the other furniture in the room, began to float into the air.

The furniture floated up a good two feet, stayed there for a moment, and then floated back down again until it touched the floor. Finally Akemi's look of concentration faded and she opened her eyes. "Hehe. It's getting easier Sakura!" she cried, looking toward her sister. "I didn't have as much trouble this time!"

Hotaru and Yamcha were just staring at their daughter in shock. It was a moment before Hotaru could find any words. "How is that...." Her mouth suddenly closed as one possibility, one big and incredible possibility, dawned on her. The Tanarians had a legend, something believed to be pure myth and fantasy, that was thousands and thousands of years old. "The Oracles...." she breathed softly.

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Planet Namek, Namek's Lookout

Azura opened her eyes and sighed. "So, at last, they know." she said softly. She had sensed it when Akemi was born. A birth like that... it was impossible for her to miss. The Kais still didn't know, and they likely wouldn't for a while. But more than Hotaru's realization, Azura was interested in what Akemi and Vegeta had spoken of.

Not even she or the Elders knew who Raven or her mate were, or where they were. In fact, they barely knew more about them than Hotaru or the others. That was something that had never before occurred. But that was a matter that would have to be resolved later. Right now there was something more pressing at hand. She closed her eyes again and contacted her counterpart on Planet Vegeta. -Tatamo, can you hear me?- she asked.

-Azura, what is it? Has something happened?-

-No, not just yet.- she replied. -But it seems like I was right. The child, Akemi, has the power to see the future, and she has seen a battle. All indications are that it will occur before the Galactic Games come to a close.-

-I already had that impression. I sensed... something, just a little while ago. Some... presence. An evil unlike anything I've ever felt. What should we do? The Kais should be made aware of what we know....-

Azura tought for a moment. She hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary. But perhaps she'd been so focused on those on Planet Vegeta and the gathering of the galaxies defenders that she had missed it.... -They know as well, to an extent.- she said at last. -I'm afraid there is nothing more we can do but wait and watch.-

-If this really is as big as you think...- Tatamo began. -I wont just stand by and watch.-

-No, I had expected not.- Azura replied. -Unfortunately I have... no other choice. But remember....-

-I know. I have not said anything for ten thousand years, I have no intention to do so now.- There was silence for a moment before he spoke again. -This Akemi you spoke of. She's the one Piccolo fought today, isn't she? Is what I feel from her what I think it is...?- he asked.

There was a long silence before Azura responded. -Yes.-

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Unkown Location

"Interesting." Ravenna said as she listened to the conversation in the VIP box on Planet Vegeta. "I hadn't known Vegeta was able to see the future."

"Nor had I." said Raven's mate. "Interesting that it started after his fight with Nappa."

"Do you think there's a connection?" Ravenna asked.

"I don't see how." said Raven.

"I do." replied Razor as he entered the room. "Do not forget that our manipulations of time can have an effect on those within the time stream still. We gave Nappa his power through my abilities, not one of the fruit. I unlocked in him his dormant powers through a transference by way of a temporal shift.

"As I explained before-hand, the temporal shift is not an exact thing. So it existed before and after I did it. It is entrirely possible Vegeta was influenced by some residual energy from that shift. I did say that it was an unreliable process. It's why we have only used it to kick start efforts or with those direct contact was not possible, such as Nappa."

"Do you think this could be a problem?" asked Ravenna. "I mean, if they know for a fact that they lose to us...."

"I thought you doubted they could even survive what is coming?" Raven asked, smiling a little.

Her daughter glanced at her for a moment and then turned back to the monitors again. "If Vegeta is seeing our attack then they must survive this... somehow."

"That explosion the Cyborg mentioned." Razor said, walking toward one of the consoles. "Let's see...." he glanced at the display on the screen and smiled. "Ah, seems I was right. That was the crystal shattering, the backwash must have caused the explosion when it entered the reactor."

"So, it's time." said Raven's mate. "Now we simply wait for him to make his move and the chaos to begin." 


	26. Unfolding the Truth

Chapter Twenty-six - Unfolding the Truth

"I never dreamed any mortals would have that kind of power again." Mikomi said as Bardock left the ring. "Dead or not."

"Goku's still likely the stronger of the two." the Grand Kai informed. "Though the gap in their powers has never been that great since they arrived seven years ago. At least the finals will be..." He trailed off as a sudden feeling swept through him. He quickly raised an arm and waved it through the air. The mirror hanging above where he and the other Kais sat shimmered and a view of the world outside his mansion appeared.

"What is...?" the South Kai started. The golden clouds between Otherworld and the H.F.I.L. were turning red in a few places. Then a red light washed up through the clouds and toward the view point on the mirror. And then the image went blank for a moment and when it returned all was as it had been.

"What was that?" asked King Kai.

"An ill omen, I fear." said Mikomi softly. "Come Kibito, we need to have a look around. Zenryou."

The Grand Kai bowed his head slightly and then the two powerful Kais were gone. After they had departed he turned to the lower Kais. "I think it best we not speak of this to those here until we know what it was we saw." he said. "But perhaps it wise you return to your worlds and make sure nothing is amiss in the Mortal Plane."

"Yes, yes, that would be a good idea." said the East Kai.

H.F.I.L.

Nefaria gazed about at the infinite expanse of the H.F.I.L. in frustration. Ever since the Kais had caused her to lose her target she'd been unable to make further progress. She had found no trace of the Blood Crystal on her own and none of the rogues had surfaced. She stood now atop a tall mountain of stone hoping, in desperation, to see something with her eyes that her senses had missed.

But that hope vanished as she felt something that she didn't like. A presence that was growing. And then she saw the wave of red light racing up through the plane from the ground. It reached her a moment later and passed over her without issue as it proceeded toward the clouds above. But unlike the Kais she knew what had just occurred. "Damn it." she muttered, closing her eyes. -I wasn't able to stop it.-

-The Blood Crystal is destroyed?-

-Yes. And the energy... it came from below the H.F.I.L. which means...-

-It was in Hell.- the other responded. -But how is that possible? The Kais and I did not fight him there.-

-Perhaps the rogues moved it? Or their allies here in this realm did it.- Nefaria replied. -I should have looked into that possibility.-

-There's nothing we can do for now. Meet me in Hell, if he is truly free we must begin preparing to defeat him, somehow.-

-What about the Kais?-

-Those weaklings?- the voice scoffed. -There is only one Supreme Kai left. Trapping him is not an option now, the balance is already off enough. Besides, with the crystal in Hell he is already beyond their reach. Let the Kais deal with the mess on their end, we have our own problems.-

-Understood.-

Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room 14

It had taken a little time to get the kids to head off. They'd had Akemi go over what she'd seen until they thought they had it all and then had sent them off so they could discuss matters in greater detail. Sakura had been persistent about being told what Hotaru had meant by 'The Oracles' but had eventually given up after a glare from her mother following the tenth time being told to forget about it.

Now both Vegetas, Bulma, Piccolo, Raditz, Tien, Vadora, Yamcha, Hotaru, Krillin, Mijima, Gainin, Sango, Gohan, Videl, and Nova were gathered in one of the conference rooms. "So," Piccolo began as the last of them took their seat. "What had you meant by 'The Oracles' earlier?"

Hotaru was silent for a while before she answered. "There is a legend on Tanaria." she began. "A legend that was ancient even before our weakening. An alien ship crashed on our world, only three of those on the ship survived. At the time... my people were still very primitive, they couldn't grasp that these people were from another world, let alone another galaxy."

"Wait, another galaxy?" Krillin asked.

Hotaru nodded. "Yes, that is where we believe that they came from now, based on what we still have of where they said they were from. It's been at least seventy-five thousand years, though. Anyway, the three who survived came to be known as The Oracles and, for decades, guided my people. They avoided giving us too much too fast but they taught us much. Better methods of building, how to forge iron, the means to harness electricity, and so on.

"They also talked often of the Kais. More than just of their existence but of their nature as the protectors of the universe. They told us that the Kais haven't always existed, they were created by a higher power to watch over the universe." Hotaru bit her lip as she thought about the rest of what The Oracles had said. Now that she was talking about it she was beginning to doubt her earlier thoughts that it was possible.

Sango watched her friend for a while and after several moments of silence decided to continue the story herself. "The Oracles," she began. "They believed in a greater power than the Kais. A being that had single handedly created everything there is, the Kais included, and of which all life is a part of. They said that the creation of a Kai begins within this being and is then carried out through the living world."

"What's that mean?" asked Videl.

"It means they believed that all Kais were born, first, as living mortals." Hotaru explained. "That their life as a mortal was a means of training them to be their protectors later. They said that they had only ever experienced this event once, it had occurred in their own peoples thousands of years before. The Oracles said that because of this experience they knew how to tell who was destined to become a Kai."

Sango was watching her friend again as she thought about what had lead the Queen to connect Akemi's powers to the teachings of The Oracles. And then something Sakura had said clicked in Sango's mind. "No way..." she breathed softly.

"What is it? I'm completely lost..." Krillin asked, confused.

Hotaru glanced over to Sango and the two met each other's gaze. It was Sango that spoke, remembering Sakura's earlier words. "She can even leave her body..."

The Queen nodded. "'Spirit Walking' is what they called it."

"Spirit Walking?" asked Bulma.

Hotaru nodded again. "Yes. The ability for a person's spirit to leave their body and move about the world freely. It is said to be a..."

"Divine power." Piccolo finished for her. "It is. I know of it from Kami's memories. Only those with some connection to Otherworld have such an ability."

The Queen let out a deep breath. "So then... if Akemi truly can do that..."

"Hey, Piccolo." Gohan started. "Is it true? That people become Kais?"

The Namek furrowed his brow in thought. "I don't know." he said at last. "My knowledge, Kami's knowledge, of the other planes, and of the way the afterlife works, is limited. Guardians are only granted the knowledge and powers needed to do their own duties."

"It's not that far fetched, I guess." Tien added. "I mean, we already know that Guardians are chosen from the living."

"But... Akemi's just a kid." said Vadora. "I think it's kind of early to be making such big assumptions as this."

They all stayed silent for a while after that, considering the possibilities and the implications to it. Many of them realizing they'd never really considered it before. Never gave a thought to a question that seemed... so obvious to them now. Where, exactly, do the Kais come from?

"I can probably make a few inquires." Piccolo said. "Someone in Otherworld should be able to tell us one way or the other."

He didn't get an answer for a while. Hotaru just stared at her hands not moving for several moments. Then she turned and looked toward Yamcha for a second before giving a single slow nod. "If you could, Piccolo..."

The Namek nodded. "I'll go speak with Dende and see if we can contact King Kai." he said moving toward the door. "I'll let you know what I find out. In the mean time you should organize a plan in case things go as badly as Akemi and Vegeta have seen."

H.F.I.L.

Mikomi gazed about the H.F.I.L. as she and Kibito descended into the plane through the clouds. Nothing seemed particularly off at first glance. "It troubles me, that the disturbance came from down here." Mikomi said softly.

"It would seem that Zenryou was right." Kibito said as they landed. "It was not Majin Buu's return that we had been feeling."

"No, apparently not." she replied. "But there was some cause. Perhaps the imbalance has lead to more problems than we first believed." Mikomi sighed a little, her eyes turned toward the ground.

Kibito knew then that her mind had gone back to her friends and allies of old. All of them now gone. He was about to say something to comfort her when he sensed something behind him and turned to look. "What!" he cried in shock. His voice got her attention and she turned as well catching only a quick glimpse of what he'd seen.

"Was that... a Demon!" Mikomi wondered in surprise. "But... what would a Demon be doing outside of Makai?"

"Perhaps they are the cause of what happened?" Kibito suggested. "Could it be... would he go that far?"

Mikomi looked at her tall companion for a minute as she considered the same thoughts as him. "Dabura knows that balance is needed to maintain the realms." she said after a moment. "Surely he wouldn't consider..." She stopped as she remembered her last encounter with the Mazoku King.

"Previous Mazoku Kings have attempted invasions of the realm before." Kibito said.

Mikomi nodded. "Yes, intending to trap the Kais so as to preserve the balance while still taking control of the realm." she said. "But why would Dabura do this now? I have been the last Supreme Kai for nearly two thousand years and he has always been stronger than I. I believe that Neikan and Aku are both close to my power, if not stronger, as well. And he has aided us before..."

Kibito shook his head. "I do not know." he said. "What should we do?"

Mikomi stood in thought for a moment. "Kibito, return to Zenryou and inform him of this possibility. I will search the H.F.I.L. for any Demons that may have come through already and see if I can obtain some answers."

"At once." Kibito said before vanishing.

Earth, The Lookout

Dende was standing on the northern edge of the Lookout, with Popo, gazing down at the Earth and off into the distance toward North City. Or rather, what was left of North City. Dende had felt an energy, a presence of some kind, something evil, and had moved to investigate. When he had reached where he now he stood he saw a flare of red light from North City and then an incredible explosion came from the plant there.

He could tell that whatever had happened had not been a simple mechanical failure as the people of Earth currently believed. But he was uncertain as to the cause. Now that the light had gone he could no longer sense the evil he had earlier. He had spent the last several minutes searching the surface of planet, along with Popo, in the hopes of locating some answers but... none were forthcoming.

He was so lost in his efforts that, at first, he missed the telepathic nudge of someone trying to contact him. It wasn't until the other Namek got a bit more forceful in his attempts to gain attention that Dende finally felt it. -Piccolo?- he wondered, recognizing the 'voice' of the thoughts in his mind.

-About time, I've been trying to reach you for the last ten minutes.- Piccolo said.

The young Guardian could tell the other was irritated. -Sorry Piccolo. There was an... explosion in North City.-

-I know. Mijima got a call about it about a half hour ago. But why are you looking into it?-

Dende sighed. -Because it wasn't natural. It wasn't a mechanical failure like they think. There was a red light and... a presence. An evil.- Dende went quiet for a moment before continuing. -And that feeling I've had the last few months, it intensified for a moment, just before the explosion. It's gone now, but...-

-Right.- Piccolo replied. -Then you have something else to ask King Kai about.-

-Something else?-

-Yes. How much do you know about Kais?-

Dende blinked as he turned from the edge of the Lookout. "Know about the Kais?" he asked aloud, gaining Popo's attention. "What do you mean Piccolo?"

-I mean about their creation. Where they come from.-

-I... never really considered it before.- he responded, returning to telepathic communication. -I mean...-

-Neither had I, but... something has come up here that has raised the question. There is a... remote possibility that... Kais begin as mortals. And that Akemi is a future Kai.-

-Akemi? Hotaru and Yamcha's second daughter?-

-Yes.- Even through the mental link Dende could hear the other Namek sigh. -Right now it's just a consideration based ancient legends and some rather... unusual abilities possessed by the girl. Possibly including Spirit Walking.-

Dende's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Spirit Walking! Are you certain?" he cried, forgetting once again, in his shock, that he didn't need to speak.

-Not entirely. Sakura claims that Akemi can do it but I have yet to witness it. She also apparently has the ability to see the future, something she seems to have in common with Vegeta. She also displayed telekinetic abilities more advanced than Hotaru's ever seen.-

"I see..." Dende said softly. "I will attempt to contact King Kai and ask about Akemi, as well as what occurred here. But I believe he has gone to the Grand Kai's world for a tournament occurring in conjunction with the Galactic Games."

-All the better. If King Kai doesn't have answers maybe the Grand Kai will.-

Otherworld, King Kai's Planet

King Kai was still checking his galaxy for anything unusual, as he had been for nearly forty minutes, when he felt Dende's 'call'. At first he didn't know what it was, because of his focus, but as he cleared his mind curiosity overcame him. He'd scanned over the Earth just a few minutes ago and hadn't noticed anything... "Dende?" he asked, turning to face the Earth's direction.

-Ah, King Kai. I thought you were on the Grand Kai's world?-

"I had been, but I needed to check on some things." the Kai replied, clasping his hands behind his back. "What can I do for you?"

-A few matters.- the young Guardian replied. He was uncertain as to which to bring up first. Finally deciding he continued. -The first of which involves an explosion that occurred here on Earth a little over a half hour ago.-

"Explosion?"

Dende sighed. -I had been sensing something was off for some time.- he said. -Then, just a little more than a half hour ago, the sensation intensified greatly. I looked to investigate the source and saw a red light come from North City only seconds before whatever energy it was caused the reactor of a plant there to explode.-

"A... red light, you said?"

-Yes.-

"Hmmm." King Kai's antennae twitched as he zeroed in on the Earth and took a much closer look at the planet and North City. The time frame matched up and the light... it definitely warranted investigation. It only took a moment to locate the damage done by the blast. Buildings still burned, thick black smoke was rising into the air, and... something felt off.

He focused more on the location and the sensation until what he was feeling came into focus. "So, it is related." King Kai said softly.

-What's related?- asked Dende.

"Not long ago, shortly after the recent matches ended on the Grand Kai's world, we saw a red light washing up from the H.F.I.L. and through Otherworld." the small Kai explained. "Apparently there is a small tear between Otherworld and the Mortal Plane in North City. So the light we saw was likely the light you saw. The explosion, though... I will bring this matter up with the Grand Kai when I return to his world and let you know what I find."

-Thank-you, King Kai.-

"You said you had a few matters you wished to discuss?"

-Ah, yes. There is one other thing. Piccolo contacted me just a few moments ago to ask an... interesting question...-


	27. Not Quite Mortal

Chapter Twenty-seven - Not Quite Mortal

King Kai wasn't watching where he was going as he walked through the halls of the Grand Kai's mansion. His eyes were staring straight ahead but they weren't seeing anything, his mind was too busy on other matters to spare any processing power for something as unimportant as vision. Dende's question had... thrown him. It had been completely unexpected.

The answer was yes, though. Kais started their existences on the Mortal Plane. All of them had. Him, his fellow lower Kais, the Grand Kai, the Supreme Kai. Even Kibito, a future Supreme Kai. But he hadn't known that anyone in the Mortal Plane had known this. It wasn't really something that came up often and only the dead ever met the Kais. And the dead typically remained dead, with the obvious notable exceptions now and then.

But the reason Piccolo had even brought up the question with the young Guardian had caught King Kai off guard even more. As soon as he'd broken the connection with the Earth's Guardian he'd turned his gaze toward Planet Vegeta and located the young girl in question. As far as he knew no one had ever discovered a future Kai before they actually became a Kai. So the possibility had drawn him instantly.

When he found her he could tell that something was definitely different about her energy. There was something about it that was familiar and yet not. He figured the Grand Kai would be able to tell better than he and so he had instantly gone back to the Grand Kai's world to speak with him. But his mind was still contemplating the possibility.

If the child truly was a future Kai... which? Kai's rose almost directly to their intended post. That meant a 'to be' lower Kai would spend only a hundred years 'in transition' between being mortal and being a true Kai. During this time they would study under the Kai they were to replace and learn the ropes of the job. After their hundred years passed they would take over that Kai's post and the Kai could then pass on to Heaven or become one of the many fighters 'living' on the Grand Kai's planet.

The Grand Kai was the same. The mortal to become the next Grand Kai would spend four hundred years in transition and then take the post. The former Grand Kai would then have the options of moving on to Heaven or staying to train. For the Supreme Kai the transition period was eight hundred years. Kibito was currently four hundred years into his transition.

King Kai knew that he wasn't the one to be replaced, he was too young. Only a little over a hundred and six thousand years old, the youngest Kai currently in place. At least until Kibito's transition finished. The West Kai was about fifty thousand years older than him while the South and East Kais were around four hundred thousand each. The Grand Kai was just over five million and the Supreme Kai was about fourteen million.

"She is the oldest but Supreme Kais usually last for around twenty-five million years. Grand Kais for around ten million and lower Kais for about two million." King Kai said to himself as he continued to walk. "No one is close to passing on yet. At least, not close enough to warrant a new Kai to come along. Unless...." King Kai came to a stop then and blinked behind his glasses.

It had almost slipped his mind! Kibito wasn't replacing an existing Kai, he was replacing one of the ones lost to Majin Buu over twenty thousand years ago! When he'd first come along four hundred years ago they all figured the next replacement for the other Supreme Kai killed by Buu wouldn't be too far behind. Was it possible that....

"Oh, oh, oh...." King Kai said quickly, as he started walking again, far more hurriedly than before. As he still wasn't paying attention to where he was going this proved to be an issue as he ran right into someone and fell over. Blinking a few times and rubbing his sore bottom he looked to see who he'd hit. It was the West Kai.

Before he could say anything, though, the other Kai spoke up. "Watch where you're going North Kai!" he cried. "Geez, why were running anyway?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"Running? Was I running?" King Kai asked, rather surprised. He'd not realized he'd even started moving again.

"You getting senile?"

"I... no, I am not getting senile!" he retorted. "I was just... thinking.... I need to get going." he said getting back to his feet. "I must speak with the Grand Kai, it's urgent! Very, very urgent!"

The West Kai blinked. "Was there something wrong in your galaxy?" he asked. "Other than an inexplicably destroyed planet nothing seemed off in mine...."

"Hmm? Oh, no, no. Well, yes, sort of. But no, that's not why I'm rushing." King Kai said as he brushed himself off and then hurried on his way again. "You should come too!" he called back. "Because... well, if it's true it's big!"

The West Kai blinked after him a few times before following after him as quickly as he could. "What's this about?" he asked as he finally caught up with him. King Kai didn't answer, he was lost in his thoughts again, contemplating things. Only this time his mind wasn't on Akemi and the possibilities she presented but on what the West Kai had said about an inexplicably destroyed planet. "Are you going deaf as well as senile?" the West Kai asked.

"Wha? No, I am not!" King Kai cried. "That planet you said was destroyed. Was there a tear near it?"

"A tear?"

"You know! Between there and Otherworld!"

"I don't know, I didn't check."

"What do you mean you didn't check!? The Grand Kai told us to see if anything was wrong and you didn't take the time to...."

"In case you've forgotten the West Galaxy is the biggest one in the universe!" West Kai shouted. "It's nearly twice as big as your dinky little North Galaxy!"

"Well excuse me for having nearly half of my galaxy destroyed by a rampaging wad of bubble gum!" King Kai huffed. The two Kais kept quiet for the rest of the trip to the stadium where the Grand Kai was still at. King Kai could also sense Kibito there as well and that caused his mind to return to Akemi again.

A few moments later they walked in to the room where the Kai and future Kai were located. "Ah, West Kai, North Kai, finished with your checks then?" he asked.

King Kai nodded. "Yes, and I found something. West Kai may have as well if he'd bothered to investigate enough."

"What! Why you..!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there. Settle down now, settle down. What's all this about now?"

King Kai clasped his hands behind his back as he spoke. "While investigating my galaxy I discovered that there was an explosion on Earth. Further checking revealed that a tear between Otherworld and the Mortal Plane existed at almost the exact epicenter of the blast radius." he said. "I spoke with the planet's Guardian and discovered that he witnessed the same light as us, and felt the same presence."

The Grand Kai rubbed his beard as he thought. "My, my, my, this is getting interesting indeed." he said. "What was it the West Kai found?"

West Kai blinked. "I, er, didn't really find anything...." he said. "There was a planet that had exploded but...."

"But he didn't bother to check for a tear." King Kai finished for him.

"Hey!" West Kai shouted. "I said I've got a big galaxy! How was I supposed to know that...."

"Relax, relax." Zenryou said waving his hands. "I get it, I get it. I'll take a look." He lowered one arm and then waved the other above his head causing the mirror to shimmer again and the West Galaxy to come into view. The image faded and was replaced by a cluster of stars, then again it faded away and a star system appeared, then once more it faded and the rubble of a destroyed planet appeared.

The view then began to pan around and sift through the rubble for a few moments until, at last, it zeroed in on a small blue light that occasionally sent out flashes of blue or gold light. "Ah, there's the tear." he said. "Hmmm, this would have been about dead center in the planet's core.... North Kai, you said an explosion occurred on Earth from a tear there?"

"Well, sort of." King Kai replied. "Based on the reports from the Humans who worked at the facility at the epicenter of the blast I believe the energy caused an overload in a reactor plant and the plant caused the explosion."

"Ah, yes, I see." said the Grand Kai thoughtfully. "A planet core and a reactor are much alike in energy production. An influx of energy would have easily caused a meltdown and planetary explosion like this. Hmmm, I can't say as to these being directly related to the incident but at the very least the explosions were the result of it.

"We'll have to wait a little while for the South Kai and East Kai to return yet and I'll see if they found anything similar. With luck the other tears spread through the galaxies wont be in such... unfortunate locations."

King Kai nodded and went silent for a moment, his thoughts on the current situation and what could have caused it. He'd never, known in all of his time as a Kai, of such an occurrence as this. A disruption in Otherworld could have disastrous ramifications through out all of the Mortal Plane, especially with the tears in place allowing for things to pass between the planes much more easily than normal.

The Supreme Kais functioned in a set of four, much like the Lower Kais. Each Supreme Kai had a specific plane in the Afterlife that they ruled and watched over. The Kai Plane, Heaven, Otherworld, and the H.F.I.L. were their jurisdictions. The one remaining Supreme Kai oversaw the Kai Plane. Without a Supreme Kai to watch over Otherworld there was no way to repair the current damage. Mikomi had no powers over the workings of Otherworld.

It was unknown which position Kibito was to fill, and wouldn't be known for another 400 years. It could be a while yet before any repairs could be done. Until then... things could still get worse. But this was the first real sign of damage from the current imbalance. With any luck no further signs would surface and it would remain business as usual. If not....

King Kai shook his head. There was another matter he needed to deal with while they waited on the other two Kais. "Grand Kai, there is something else."

"Oh?"

"When I spoke with the Earth's Guardian I was presented with... a possibility." he said. "Piccolo had contacted him to speak with me on behalf of him and the others currently on Planet Vegeta about a question they have. They were curious if mortals became Kais." He paused there and let the fact that the question had even been posed sink in to the three present.

"Why would they ask something like that?" the West Kai asked after a moment. The surprise evident in his voice.

"Apparently the Tanarians have legends that speak of it." King Kai said. He'd done a little investigating into those legends. He wasn't sure where The Oracles had come from any more than they were but he had a feeling the Kai they had known in the Mortal Plane had either been him or the West Kai. Nothing concrete in that, just a guess, but the other Kais were all much older than either of them and for such knowledge to persist that long was unlikely.

"This, coupled with some information presented to them, lead them to bring the matter to my attention." he continued. "It's unconfirmed but... the girl, Akemi, and her sister have made claims that Akemi can... Spirit Walk."

"Akemi?" the Grand Kai asked, leaning back into his seat. "Ah, the young Tanarian girl in the tournament." he said after a moment.

"But, is it even possible to locate a future Kai while they are still a mortal?" asked Kibito. "No one knew of me until after I had died and come to Otherworld."

"This is true." Zenryou said. "However, even as mortals Kais have some of their abilities, such as Spirit Walking, and heightened minds and mental attributes. No doubt this would be highly apparent in a Tanarian as they already have well developed minds. They also possess an aura that should have enough of a Kai energy to it to be noticeable as such...."

King Kai nodded. "I checked before coming here." he said. "I couldn't place it but there was something to her aura."

The Grand Kai raised an arm and waved his hand before the mirror again. Once more the image changed to that of a galaxy. Then it shifted to a star system, a planet, and then an open field. There, in the field, were the children, Akemi among them. "Hmmmm." the Grand Kai said softly as he gazed at her. "I do sense something unusual." he said. "I can't quite place the energy but it does feel connected...."

He trailed off then as the Supreme Kai appeared behind him. "Good timing." he said, glancing back at her. "North Kai may have come across something that should interest you. Sense the energies of those children."

Mikomi gave him a glance before looking up at the mirror. She'd been about to say how her search in the H.F.I.L. had gone before the Grand Kai had spoken. As she looked at the kids, quickly recognizing them as the children from the tournament in the Mortal Plane, her mind reached out and felt their energies. "I'm not sure what you expect me to find..." she said slowly.

"Concentrate on the youngest one. The smaller of the silver haired girls."

She nodded and narrowed her focus to just that girl. As soon as she did she felt it. It was an odd familiarity to her power and as soon as she attempted to place it she knew what it was. "Incredible...." she breathed. "North Kai, how did you...?"

"It was brought to my attention by Earth's Guardian." King Kai said. "And brought to his attention by Piccolo after he learned she supposedly has the ability to Spirit Walk."

West Kai looked from the kids and over to the Supreme Kai. "So, she is...?"

Mikomi nodded slowly. "The energy is... unmistakable to me. She is, or rather, she will be a.... Supreme Kai."

"We knew, once Kibito appeared, that another would follow before too long." Zenryou said, steepling his fingers. "The universe is finally catching up to the events of twenty plus thousand years ago, restoring the balance. And none too soon it seems."

"Yes, about that." Mikomi said, turning her gaze back to the other Kais. "Has Kibito informed you of what we found?"

"He has." replied Zenryou.

"I tried to track the Demon we spotted but I lost it." she said with a slight shake of her head. "Near a tear between in the H.F.I.L., though I don't know where it leads. No doubt it used the tear to escape, which worries me as it seemed to know where it was going, where the tear lead to." She sighed. "This also explains how the energy we tracked before passed into the H.F.I.L. from Otherworld."

"The Demons are using the tears in the planes as transportation lanes." Zenryou said with a small nod. "That is not good. Tears exist in all planes but the Kai Plane. A Demon invasion now is... the worst possible time."

"For us." Mikomi said. "But not for them. I had wondered earlier why Dabura would have waited this long to attack if he had intentions to. I have been the only Supreme Kai for nearly two thousand years. But this makes it clear. They must have been monitoring the tears, waiting for them to develop enough to use as passage between the planes here."

"Another war with Makai..." Zenryou said softly. "It's been over fifty million years since the last. They are... never good things. Especially with us under manned now."

"I worry that this is one we will not win." Mikomi said. "Muzai was stronger than Dabura but I... do not compare."

The Grand Kai turned his gaze from Mikomi down into the stadium. It was empty now, all the spectators and competitors had finished filing out about a half hour ago. But as he gazed at the ring he remembered the battles and the powers he'd felt. Bardock was stronger than him, and Goku was likely stronger than that. The two would need to be approached later on to help him in defense of Otherworld, and possibly Heaven as well.

"What about that light?" King Kai asked, breaking into the Grand Kai's thoughts. "The energy that came with it caused explosions in the Mortal Plane."

"Explosions?" asked Mikomi.

"Yes." Zenryou said. "North Kai noticed it. Where the energy met with tears into the Mortal Plane it crossed over into that plane. There, in a few places, it mixed with other things and caused explosions. A reactor on Earth and a planet in the West Galaxy."

Mikomi sighed. "The first causalities of war...." she said sadly. She was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I'm uncertain what the light or energy was from." she said at last. "The Demon Kibito and I saw must have done something down in the H.F.I.L. that caused it. We must assume that the attack will begin within the next few days at most."

The silence that followed was interrupted by a knock on the door which then opened as a silver haired woman entered. "Ah, Sora, what is it?" the Grand Kai asked as the former Tanarian Queen entered the room.

"Something is... off." she said, sparing only a quick glance at the other Kais in the room and noting, quickly, that she didn't recognize two of them.

"Off? How so?" he asked.

"The paper work from Lord Yemma's station suddenly stopped coming in about twenty five minutes ago." she explained. "Neither I nor anyone else has been able to contact him since then. Twenty minutes ago the paper work coming from Lord Jizo stopped as well, and it's been about ten minutes since we received any paper work from Lord Wukong. We have been unable to contact Lord Jizo and I had the Oni trying to contact Lord Wukong as I left."

The five Kais all glanced at each other. They were three of the sixteen Judges of the Dead for the universe. Lord Yemma oversaw the northern sector of the North Galaxy, Lord Jizo the eastern sector of the East Galaxy and Lord Wukong the western sector of the West Galaxy. Every time they passed judgment on a soul paper work would pass from the check-in station they worked at to the filing center in the Grand Kai's mansion.

It was an automatic process, for it to stop could only mean that new souls were not being judged. But that was impossible. It never took more than a few minutes to judge anyone. If a delay of longer than five minutes occurred the Judge would be contacted to determine the cause. For none of them to be responding to contact attempts....

"Kibito, head to Lord Wukong's station and see if you can determine a problem." Mikomi ordered. "I will go and speak with Lord Jizo. Zenryou, meet with Lord Yemma." The other two nodded and then all three of them vanished.

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Earth, North City

The city's emergency response teams had been on the scene in minutes. But there was a lot of ground to cover. Those within twenty miles of the explosion's epicenter were dead, completely incinerated without a trace left. About eighty percent of those between twenty and twenty-five miles were badly injured and weren't expected to survive, the other twenty percent were already dead.

Beyond twenty-five miles the survival rate increased by about ten percent per quarter mile. That was where sufficient medical care could be given. In most places, even with the prompt response, that wasn't possible. That reduced the rate to an increase of only five percent per half mile until the thirty mile marker. At which point the injuries became minor enough that survival was near one hundred percent, even without medical treatment.

Trauma Team 6 was just short of twenty-one miles from the epicenter on the south eastern side of the blast range treating some of the worst victims of the explosion. "I tell you, Kadava, I don't know what Capsule Corp. was thinking, having something that dangerous in the middle of the city like that." one of the men was saying as he did his best to stitch up a survivor. One of the lucky ones, this far in, that had a chance of living. A small chance, but a chance.

"We don't even know the exact cause yet, Morcian." his partner said. "My bet, it was some alien using one of them Ki blast things."

Morcian was about to say something but stopped when he heard a groaning from behind him. Turning to look he saw a hand under some rubble twitch a little. "Hey, looks like we missed a live one." he said, looking over to Kadava again. "This guy's all patched up, help me move the stuff off of...."

He trailed off as the moaning got louder and the sound of shifting rubble reached his ears. Looking back again he watched as the rubble was pushed aside and then a man in a tattered business suit sat up. He had a big gash in his side and his head and suit were both covered in blood. Morcian was about to say something when the man's head turned to face them and they saw that his right eye was pure white and his left eye along with the left side of his head, and his left arm, were missing completely. 


	28. The Living Dead

Chapter Twenty-eight - The Living Dead

The Grand Kai appeared on the serpentine like path that lead out several miles from Lord Yemma's check in station. The path was a dead end going away from the station, it existed only as a place for the dead to stand in line while awaiting judgement. Currently it was devoid of anyone waiting. No puffy whispy soul clouds, no fully formed soul bodies, and no Oni. Which was highly abnormal.

The station itself seemed fine, however. Though he did find it odd he appeared outside the station, several yards away, instead of inside as he had intended. He pushed that aside to consider later and made his way quickly to the building and inside. There found Oni rushing about hurriedly carrying papers, boxes, work tools, various red, purple, and blue crystals, and an array of other materials.

Standing on Yemma's desk were about three dozen more Oni, each holding clip boards and quickly taking notes as the large Judge before them spoke. "I want a complete inventory of every book and every file." Yemma was booming. "Compare them to the placement records, make notes of any missing books, files, or names. I want a new book prepared, record all names that have vanished from currently existing materials into that book, along with their original placement.

"Continue with efforts to re-open the doors, go to the mortal plane yourselves and try from that side if you have to! I also want a support team of no less than fifty Oni prepared for the massive influx of arrivals we will be getting once this problem is corrected. Names of arrivals will be taken as they appear and compared to the new book of missing names. If you find a match return them to where they belong, all others will remain in line."

As Yemma paused to finally take a breath the Grand Kai cleared his throat. The massive Oni blinked and then leaned forward to gaze over the heads of those before him. "Zenryou!" he cried. "I take it word has spread to you, then?"

"In a manner of speaking." the Kai replied. "We noticed the lack of in comming paperwork and were unable to contact you."

Yemma nodded. "Yes, all the lines and pathways are sealed! The papers that were waiting to be sent couldn't be, there's no way of sending communications through either. And what's worse, the doors to the mortal plane have closed and sealed! As well, most of the souls that were here, waiting for judgemnt, vanished to who knows where!"

"Hmm." Zenryou murmured, rubbing his beard. "I wonder if the problem is the same at Lord Jizo and Lord Wukong's stations..."

"What's that?" Yemma asked, leaning forward more and causing the Oni on his desk to scramble out of his way so that they wouldn't be squashed. "Jizo and Wukong are having troubles too?"

Zenryou nodded. "No paperwork from them, either." he replied. "Yours stopped first, then Jizo's and then Wukong's. I fear the problem will eventually spread to all stations."

"What!?" Yemma cried, eyes widening. "But... if that happens, if all the doors close... there will be no way for souls to enter Otherworld! Everything would fall into complete chaos!"

The Grand Kai remained silent, his eyes fixed firmly on a cracked floor tile.

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Planet Vegeta, Training Grounds

"What do you think that was all about?" Trunks asked. It had only been ten minutes since the adults had chased them off and left for the palace. "What's this 'oracles' stuff?"

Sakura shook her head and plopped down onto the grass and laid back. "I haven't got a clue." she said, exasperated. "Stupid adults! You'd think they'd tell us what the hell's go...."

"Sakura!" Akemi cried.

The other girl flinched. "Sorry. You'd think they'd tell us what the..." she glanced at her younger sister before continuing. "...heck is going on considering we're the ones in the middle of it. Akemi's the one seeing this stuff and I'm the one...."

"That was then." Cheri said, sitting down beside her friend. "Thanks to the King your parents believe you now."

"Yeah... but what was that stuff about Trunks' dad seeing the future too?" Sakura asked, pushing herself up with her elbows.

"Beats me." the young royal replied. "I'd also like to know who this Raven person is. They seemed pretty serious when dad mentioned her being that one guy's mate...." He paused for a moment and then looked over to Akemi. "You said the guy had a tail, right? Was he a Sai-jin?"

Akemi scrunched up her face. "I don't know." she said, thinking. "He could have been, maybe. His hair was all balck and weird, like all the full Sai-jins... but...."

"But what?" Goten asked as he sat down, crossed his legs, and put his head in his hands.

"Well, his eyes weren't black." she said slowly. "I couldn't tell the color, I was too far away. But they had color."

"Half Sai-jin, maybe?" Cheri suggested. "I mean, I have black eyes but that's probably cause both my mom and dad do too, just like Gohan and Goten. So maybe one of his didn't, like Trunks?"

"I guess." Akemi said shrugging. "But his tail wasn't normal either."

"How so?" asked her sister.

Akemi looked to Sakura for a moment then down at Cheri's waist. "All the tails I've seen were brown. His was red."

The kids just sat there thinking for a few more minutes. Finally, it was Goten that spoke up. "Maybe cause of not being all Sai-jin?" he suggested. "Trunks' hair is purple...."

"But this guy's hair was black." Sakura reminded him.

"Goten's right." Trunks said. "Tails are brown while hair is black. It's two different colors. So it could still be that."

"It's possible." Cheri agreed. "But we need more information first."

Trunks snorted. "We'll never get it from the adults."

"Yeah, they act like we can't do anything." Goten pouted. "Gohan beat Cell when he wasn't much older than us! Just cause we're young doesn't mean we can't do anything!"

"I'm open to suggestions." Sakura said.

Cheri suddenly grinned. "We could have Akemi spy on them!" she said, excitedly. "She could go into the room the adults are in with that leaving her body thing!"

Akemi's face suddenly lit up and she nodded. "Yeah! I can do that!"

"Can you do it from here?" Trunks asked. "Cause if we get too close they'll get suspicious."

"I can try." the girl replied. She closed her eyes and began to focus. But as the black of her eyelids faded away and the world around her came into view again she froze. Suddenly her eyes snapped open wide and she stood looking around her scared and shaking.

"Akemi?" Sakura started. She'd never seen her react like this before. "Akemi, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I... I saw... things. I saw all kinds of... of... I don't know. These glowy blue things that looked like not-there people." she said fast. "It was like they were made of light that was falling apart... it was creepy and scary." she swallowed and then sat back down. "I'm... going to try again."

Once more she closed her eyes and focused. Once more the world around her came into view again, blured at the edges and with her eyes still closed. And again she saw the whispy lights that seemed to leave behind parts of themselves as they moved. All the light-people looked lost and confused. As she realized that she wasn't as scared anymore. But then she saw one that was staying together, one that wasn't as whispy, wasn't falling apart, and wasn't lost or confused.

She watched him walking around not far from where she was, his eyes scanning the ground and sky all around him. "Where is it!" he cried, agitated.

"Still can't find it?" another voice asked, this one from behind Akemi. She whirled about and saw another non-whispy and not confused light-person walking toward the first.

The first one shook his head as the second approached. "No, I can't." he said. "There has to be something around here."

"I don't know, this is awfully far from where we showed up." said the second.

"We were told that was possible. Remember? That's why we're looking for the thing, to make sure everyone else appears in the same place and with bodies." The first stopped his searching and looked up at the second again. "And don't just stand there Dore, help me look!"

"Alright, geez, don't get so grumpy. What's it look like again?"

"I don't know! Some sort of light thing." he replied. "Recoome wasn't exactly specific, the idiot. Why he was even asked to relay information is beyond me."

"Slasa, Dore!" a third voice called. Akemi looked up and saw another non-confused light person land. "I found the tear!"

"Finally. Where is it Neizu? We need to hurry up and get ready." Slasa said.

"At the stadium thing the Sai-jins built." Neizu responded.

Salsa nodded. "Alright, let's move out!" and the three of them took off.

Akemi blinked a few times and then realization dawned on her and she quickly returned to her body. "Oh no!" she cried as soon as her mouth worked again. "They're going to the arena! It's the vision, it's happening!"

"Who's going to the arena?" Trunks asked. "What's going on?"

Akemi shook her head, still wide-eyed. "I... I don't know." she said. "Most of the glowy people look like they're sleep walking but I saw three that weren't like that. They were looking for something and one of them found it at the arena! They're going there now!"

"People?" Sakura asked. This was... wierd. Akemi had never seen people that they couldn't see before.

Akemi nodded. "Yeah. Ummmm, they were... Saucer, Door, and Maze, I think. And they mentioned a Raccoon too."

"Saucer... Door... and Maze?" Cheri asked slowly. The names sounded familir but.... "Wait, was it maybe Salsa, Dore, and Neizu?" she asked.

Akemi smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That was it!"

"Wait, that's the Armored Squadron, right?" Trunks asked. He knew about the fight against Cooler pretty well. The story was told a lot by a lot of people. It hadn't even been ten years yet and the entire thing was already becoming legend. "They died a while ago, before I was born."

Sakura thought for a moment. "Racoon... Maybe that was Recoome? But... he died before I was born...."

"Glowy people...." Goten said slowly. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Ghosts!"

"Don't be silly Goten." Trunks scoffed. "There's no such thing."

"Says who?" Cheri countered. "When you die your soul goes to Otherworld, right? So ghosts would just be souls here in the living world."

"We can figure out what's going on later, right now let's get to the arena." Sakura said. "Maybe we can stop everything before it happens. Let the adults waste all of their time talking."

"Right." Cheri and Goten said quickly. Trunks agreed a moment later and they all took off for the arena again.

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet

When Zenryou returned to his world, to his seat at the Otherworld Stadium, he found Mikomi already there. "Things are worse than I feared." she said as he materialized. "At least three of the twenty-four doors to the mortal plane have already closed. What of Yemma's troubles?"

"Same." Zenryou said. "Let me guess, the other one that's closed is Lord Thanos?" Mikomi nodded in response. "That's the four edges then." The Grand Kai said. "North, South, East, and West."

"Kibito is checking the east and west stations of the North and South galaxies now." Mikomi informed him. "I already checked the north and south stations of the East and West galaxies. They aren't having troubles yet but the doors have already begun to close. By this time tomorrow all of the doors will be sealed, no new souls will be able to enter Otherworld." Mikomi closed her eyes. "And I have no way of opening them again."

Zenryou turned and looked out into the stadium. The only ones who would have the power to reopen the doors would have been Muzai, Lord of all Kais, and Yousha, the Supreme Kai once in charge of Otherworld but killed by Majin Buu over twenty thousand years ago. If they were lucky Kibito would take Yousha's place in four hundred years and be able to open the doors then. If not, they would need to wait more than eight hundred years for Yousha's replacement.

And in the meantime they would be powerless to stop the disaster at hand. Four hundred years of no souls crossing over would quickly send the entire mortal plane into chaos. This was, without a doubt, the greatest single disaster to ever strike the realm of Shinkai. Even if the wait was only four hundred years Zenryou wasn't sure there would be much of a mortal plane left to save when the doors reopened....

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room 14

Since no one was sure just how far this issue would spread they'd worked out a 'worst case scenario' plan. One in which the entire galaxy was in danger. There wasn't much they could do on a galactic scale, not on their own, that had been made painfully obvious as they'd begun working out their plans and it was yet another reason the Sennari was a must. But at present that governmental body was too new, too small, and too limited to be entirely effective in the current situation.

Still, they felt fairly confident in what they'd established. Contact had been made with Earth and Tanaria and they had been put on alert in case the events forseen for those worlds were to unfold soon as well. Also, the entire Sai-jin military had been placed on full alert throughout the entire galaxy.

Piccolo had also returned to the conference room several minutes ago and at this point everyone was just sitting around waiting for him to hear back from Dende. It was several minutes before anyone broke the silence, and when she did Vadora spoke barely above a whisper. "What will you do if...." she trailed off, the concept of the question still too much for her to fully grasp.

"I... don't know." Hotaru said after a long pause. "How do you raise someone to be a Kai?" she asked no one in particular, her eyes locked on the table before her. "I'm not even sure if she should be told. Not now, obviously, but later, when she's older."

"That'd be a lot for someone to come to terms with." Videl said. "But it might be better to tell her. She'll eventually find out anyway, once it happens. Knowing while she's alive will help her in the long term, I think."

Yamcha leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose it's not so different from her current situation anyway." All eyes turned to the Human as he spoke.

"Not so different?" Raditz asked. "I'd say being a Kai is a lot different than...."

"Being a Princess?" Yamcha asked, lowering his gaze again. "I don't really see much distinction beyond scope and power. The duty is the same at its heart."

The elder Vegeta nodded. "Yes, that is true. The Kais exist to govern Otherworld and defend the universe. Just the same as any royal exists to govern and defend their people."

Hotaru nodded as well. "That does make sense, and it makes it a less mind boggling prospect and concept. Rulling is something I know well...."

"If it were Trunks..." the younger Vegeta began. "I'd just keep his training the same as ever. If Akemi is properly trained to be a ruller she'll be well equpied, I should think, to be a Kai."

"I still say we're getting ahead of ourselves." Raditz interjected. "I just can't see how...."

He was cut off as the emergency pager went off on Vegeta's communicator. The royal picked it up off the table and activated it bringing one of the room's large screens to life. It was Rowan. "What is it?" Vegeta asked, stiffening up.

"We've gotten some... odd reports." Rowan said slowly, glancing at a computer in her hand. "Some sort of disturbance out at the Hallowed Grounds. I'm not... sure what to make of it...." She dropped the computer and looked up again. "If not for the alert, and for the number of reports, I'd assume it was just some drunk hallucinations but...."

"What is it?" Vegeta asked, scowling.

"Well, sir, ummmm...." she paused again as her scouter beeped and she quickly answered it. "Rowan, Palace Operations." she said. Then, a moment later. "Hang on, I'm going to patch you in with the King." she said pressing a couple of buttons. "Alright, repeat that."

"This is Celtuce, commander of the seventeenth elite combat squad. I... I don't know how else to say this but... our post at the city perimiter is being over run by... dead people."

There was dead silence in the room as everyone stared at each other. "Dead people?" Senator Vegeta asked at last, the first to find his voice.

"Yes sir." Celtuce replied. "I... they can't... they're moving but... they can't be alive. I... we're on the corner of Onion and Berry." he said.

Rowan knew exactly why he'd given them a location and she quickly accessed Saiya City's perimiter security cameras. A moment later they had a live video feed up on the screen. "What the hell?" Raditz said in disbelief. There, walking down the street, were dozens and dozens of... corpses. Some of them were missing limbs, some had holes in them, most had their skin peeling off and rotting away. There was no mistaking that they should have been dead.

"They don't seem very intelligent." Celtuce continued. "They're just walking toward the nearest person they can... I don't know, see? Smell? Sense? They've already tried to attack a few of my men."

"Attack?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah. One of them tried to chew off my arm earlier. I... there's hundreds of them and they just keep coming. I think they're coming from the Hallowed Grounds. If this keeps up the entire city will be overrun by morning unless we do something but... how do you kill dead people?" 


	29. Return of the Dead

Chapter Twenty-nine - Return of the Dead

The kids pulled to a stop about a hundred yards away from the arena. They didn't want to get too close until they knew exactly what was going on. Of course, even then, they weren't sure how to stop ghosts. The only idea they had so far was for Akemi to try and fight them while out of her body, but they had no idea if that would work or not.

"Do you see them?" Sakura asked softly. Her sister had left her body again and was trying to locate the 'people' they had followed.

There was a long moment of silence before Akemi opened her eyes again and spoke. "No. I can't find them!" she said, worried. "If we don't stop them then... then...."

"Don't worry Akemi." Cheri said, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "We wont let anything happen to your sister. Promise."

Akemi was about to say something but was interupted by a sudden pulse of white light and energy coming from the arena. "What was that?" Trunks asked, eyes gazing along the arena hoping to see some cause for what had happened. Something he could fight and stop. Another pulse came a second later, this one blue.

The young Tanarian quickly closed her eyes again and focused. As the world came into view through her mind a third pulse, this one of gold, flashed. And she was able to see the source of the energy burst. "It's inside!" she cried, opening her eyes. "The light is coming from inside somewhere."

"Then I guess we're going in. We don't have much choice." Trunks said. "All the adults are busy talking, guess it's up to us to save the world. Come on." The other four kids nodded and then they all took off in bursts of light, leaving a multi-colored rainbow of Ki behind them. They charged passed a group of confused and startled arena security as they went in through the east entrance.

"Ideas for a direction?" Trunks asked. But before anyone could reply another pulse of light, white once again, came. And now that they were inside they saw the originating direction and took off for it. A minute and five pulses later they reached a hall with a small gathering of arena security standing about and poking around in a room. The sign on the door marked it as the generator room.

"Oh, hey, do you think...." Sakura began as she saw the sign.

Trunks nodded. "The power issues dad mentioned." He turned to Akemi. "Think you could take a look around?"

"Sure." she said with a nod.

The kids stood in silence and waited as another pulse of light came from the room. It didn't take long for Akemi to return and tell them what she'd seen. "It's them!" she cried, opening her eyes. The sound of her yell caught the attention of the arena staff but the kids ignored them.

"What are they doing?" asked Sakura.

Akemi shook her head. "I'm not sure." she said. "They're standing in a circle around this glowing and pulsing light thingy and holding their arms out toward it, light flowing into it. I could see... I could see another world on the other side of the light at times...." She turned and looked up at her sister. "There were people there and they all had halos."

"Umm, excuse me, but you can't be down here." one of the guards said, walking over to them. "Not even you, Prince Trunks."

Trunks ignored the guard. "Think you can stop them?" he asked.

"I don't know... but I'll try." Akemi replied, closing her eyes.

"Umm, like I sai..."

"I heard you." Trunks snapped, turning to the guard. "But right now we're the only ones that can stop... whatever it is that's happening."

Akemi only faintly heard Trunks as the world around her shifted into her mind view again. She moved passed the gathered guards and back into the room where the three ghosts and the light were. She could see more of the world on the otherside of the light now. "You'd better stop!" Akemi called to them.

Dore and Neizu blinked and looked back. The fact that they'd been adressed at all had shocked them. The fact that they found themselves face to face with a kid who looked like them, only more solid, was even more shocking. "What the hell?" Dore asked. "Who's the kid? How'd she get here? Is she with us?"

"I doubt she's with us." Neizu said. "She wouldn't be telling us to stop if she were."

"Oh, yeah, right. Well you better beat it kid. We don't have time to be dealing with no runt. We have to finish stablizing this tear, aint got much time left."

Akemi scowled. Obviously they weren't going to be nice and just stop. But what could she do to stop them? She couldn't tell how strong they were, she couldn't sense ki when like this. And she wasn't sure she could even fight like this either. Well, one way to find out. "If you wont stop then I'll make you stop!"

Salsa looked around from where he was on the other side of the tear. "Go away kid!"

"Fine!" Akemi cried launching in.

She slammed a fist square into Dore's back but the large alien just laughed. "That tickles!"

/They're stong! Guess I'll have to try and transform./ she thought, floating backward and then closing her eyes.

"Huh?" Dore wondered, turning to look behind him again. He'd noticed an odd orange light and when he looked back his eyes widened in surprise. The kid was turning orange! "Hey Salsa, there's something odd 'bout this kid. She's changing colors."

"What?"

"Yeah, she's turning orange. I don't like it."

"Just focus on the task at hand Dore." Salsa said. "We can worry about her later. Heh, come to think of it, we wont have to worry about her later either. We'll be alive again, so just focus on this."

"Right." Dore had started to turn back to the tear but stopped as he noticed the girl was now fully orange. She opened her eyes again and charged in at him once more. He didn't expect her to do any better now than before so he turned back to the tear again. But this time when her fist hit his back it knocked him forward, toward the tear. He barely managed to stop himself before he hit it. "We've got a problem!" he called, turning to face the kid. "She's stronger than she looks!"

Neizu lowered his arms and turned to face her as well. "We'll have to deal with her before she causes too much trouble." he said. "This tear is central to the plans, all the strongest fighters are here. It's the best place to attack from. Otherwise it could take years to conquer this plane!"

"Alright kid." Salsa said, walking around from behind the tear. "If you want to fight the great Armored Squadron that badly we can indulge you a little."

Akemi moved her eyes back and forth from one person to the next. "So you are the Armored Squadron like Cheri thought." she said. "But she said you guys are dead...."

Neizu smiled. "Not for much longer. Once we've got this tear stablized, and those on the other worlds have theirs stablized as well, we'll be one step closer to being alive again."

Dore gave a quick nod. "Yeah, then it's just up to those on the other side to complete the final step. Once they do, bang! This area will be wasted and there will be brand new living bodies for us! And a nice little path from there to here for everyone else to come through and attack!" Dore laughed. "This little mud ball will be over run in minutes and then it'll be time for some revenge."

Akemi's eyes had slowly widened as the two aliens spoke. As they finished she turned her focus to the tear in the room. That second of distraction didn't go unnoticed by Salsa who charged in quickly and slammed an elbow into her face knocking her back out into the hall. "Alright, back to work." he said turning around again.

Meanwhile Trunks had gotten into an arguement with the guards. "Look, I don't care if you think we're playing games or making up stories." he said, crossing his arms. "But in case you haven't noticed there haven't been any more flashes of light since we got here. Right now Akemi's in there trying to stop the Armored Squadron from doing whatever it is they're...."

"The Armored Squadron's dead." one of the guards said. "Have been for going on ten years."

"Duh." said Cheri, rolling her eyes. "Didn't we already go over that?"

"Yeah!" Goten piped in. "They're ghosts so of course they're dead!"

Suddenly Akemi gasped and dropped to her knees, blood flying from her mouth and splattering on the floor. "Akemi!" Sakura cried, kneeling down beside her. "Akemi, are you ok? What happened?"

"I'm sorry...." she said, shaking her head. "They surprised me, I couldn't stop them. But... I know what they're doing."

"What?" Trunks asked.

"There's a... tear in there." she explained, remembering what she'd heard. "They're... tabaling... sabilising...." She scowled as she tried to remember the word.

"Stablizing?" Cheri offered.

"Yeah, that. They're doing that to it. They said that once they're done, and the others are done, then someone will do something and they'll be alive again. And then people will come through and attack!" She closed her hands into fists and punched the floor sending snaking cracks out through the concrete for a couple dozen feet. "It's all hapening, it's going to be just like my vision! I... I...."

"It's ok Akemi." Sakura said, putting a hand on her sister's back. "We'll think of something..."

"We'll just stay here and blast anyone that shows up!" Trunks said, uncrossing his arms.

Suddenly Akemi's eyes widened and she climbed to her feet. "No, we can't! We have to go!" she said. "They said that when they get their bodies back that this area will be 'wasted'! It's not safe here...."

"Alright then, we fall back, get out of the building." Sakura said. She looked toward the guards as a pulse of light came again, this one golden. She hesitated for a second as she realized the light must mean the Armored Squadron was getting closer to its objective. "You have to go as well." she said. "Clear out of here for now."

The guards didn't say anything, didn't move to leave, didn't do anything. It was obvious they were torn between believing the kids' story and going with their previous stance. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to Trunks. "We need to tell our parents." she said.

Trunks nodded as his eyes locked onto the scouter of the nearest guard. He vanished from where he stood and appeared an instant later floating beside them, their scouter already on his face. He scowled as he got a busy signal at the palace. Quickly making a few adjustments to the frequency and priority code, as he watched another light pulse flare up, he tried again. This time a voice came over the line. "Rowan, Palace Operations."

"Put me through to my dad, now." Trunks said.

Another light flash came. "They're getting closer, we should go, now." Cheri said worriedly, eyes locked on the generator room. The others nodded and took off through the halls quickly, rushing for the exit.

"Prince Trunks?" Rowan asked. "I'm sorry but...."

"Bah! Fine, stupid adults!" Trunks nearly shouted. "Just call him and tell him it's happening, now, what he and Akemi saw. He'll know." and with that he cut the line and tossed the scouter away as another light pulse filled the hall.

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Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room 14

"What is... going on...." Hotaru said, barely above a whisper, as she watched dead bodies walking down the street under their own power. It seemd that in the last hour everything she knew about the universe had been turned on its head. Akemi's visions, the chance she was a future Kai, walking dead bodies.... Nothing made sense anymore.

"Alright, we'll be out to help where and how we can." Vegeta said. "Rowan, get word out to the rest of the military, here and elsewhere. This may not be an isolated occurance...."

"Right." she said as the screen went blank.

"Piccolo, any ideas....?" Gohan asked, looking toward the Namek.

Piccolo shook his head. "No, not really." he said. "Dende did mention that the explosion in North City wasn't the reactor but something else. A light and a presence he didn't know. It could be related...." He shook his head again. "But this shouldn't be possible."

"You're telling me." Videl said, rubbing her temples. "I always thought Zombies were just fantasy. How is it possible that...."

"Like I said, it shouldn't be." the Namek responded. "When a person dies their spirit passes into Otherworld. It's an instant trip, and it's one way without some sort of intervention. And bodies can't move without a spirit in them."

"We can discuss the whys and hows later." Vegeta said, standing up. "Right now we need to go do... something about it."

The others all nodded and were starting to stand when Vegeta's comunicator beeped again. The Sai-jin quickly picked it up and brought the screen back on once again showing Rowan's face. "Sorry to bother you but your son contacted me." she said. "He seemed pretty upset."

"What'd he want?" Bulma asked.

"He said to call his father and tell him that what he and Akemi saw was happening now." she said, obviously confused herself. "And you'd know what he meant. Then the connection went out."

"Where was he?" Vegeta asked, stiffening up.

Rowan glanced down at her screen. "Well, the call came from the scouter of one of the arena security staff so probably there."

"Damn." Vegeta said, turning and hurrying from the room, the others right behind him. They were all thinking the same thing. A problem at the arena and Trunks message could only mean one thing, the battle that Vegeta and Akemi had seen in their visions was starting.

They reached a door to one of the upper level outdoor walkways a few moments later and then were outside and flying toward the arena as fast as they could go. Still, it'd be about ten minutes before they got there....

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Galactic Games Arena

The kids landed about fifty yards away from the arena building and turned to look back. Apparently the guards had finally decided to listen to reason as the arena's staff was pouring out of every exit as fast as they could manage. And the light pulses were coming more rapidly now. "Sixteen... seventeen... eig...." Sakura stopped her count as a flash of gold came.

"Not even eighteen seconds this time." Cheri said, worriedly. The pulse before that had taken twenty-four seconds.

"Look, until the others get here we're the strongest." Trunks said, stretching. "Which means it's up to us to stop who ever comes to attack, or at least slow them down. We have to hold them here until our families arrive."

"Trunks is right." Sakura said as another pulse came. "We're the first line of defense, and the only protection all of them have." She finished with a nod toward the running staff.

Suddenly a loud shrill whistling sound started from inside the arena. It built in volume quickly as the pulses of light came faster and faster. And there was a bright flash of red and black, a thunderous crack and crash, and the ground trembled beneath their feet. When the light faded the kids saw the side of the arena had collapse and there was now a pulsing light inside the building. And standing around it were three people in battle armor.

"Ha ha!" Salsa cried, lifting into the air. "The Armored Squadron is back!"

"Not for long!" Trunks cried, shooting in toward them. Goten, Cheri, Akemi, and Sakura right behind him.

"Oh, look, some kids want to play." Doore laughed.

"Akemi, transform!" Sakura called as she began to glow orange herself.

"Right!" Akemi called.

A second later the two had tranformed and then both Akemi and Cheri's voices called out "Nibai Kinryoku!" and their auras shifted silver. The five kids reached the three members of the Amored Squadron an instant later. The five of them could sense the powers of their opponents and quickly split off into the best attack groups.

Goten and Trunks each slammed a fist into Dore's chest while Cheri and Akemi kicked Neizu in the face and Sakura headbutted Salsa. The three warriors were knocked flying back over the arena and the kids all smiled. "Make it fast guys!" Sakura called out. "We don't know how many others might be coming!"

"Right!" they said in unison.

"Final Flash!" called Trunks.

"Dodon Ray!" Cheri shouted.

"Kameryokuha!" cried Sakura.

The Armored Squadron had just righted itself and recovered from their shock when the voices called out. Dore saw the golden energy charging toward him a second before it hit, not enough time to block but he managed to deflect some of the energy away from him. But Goten's kick to the back of his head a second later sent him into unconciousness.

Neizu wasn't so lucky. He spied Cheri's Dodon Ray a second sooner than Dore saw the Final Flash but his reaction time was slower and the attack punched right through his chest. Meanwhile Salsa thrust his arms out to block Sakura's attack. However he realized his error as soon as it hit him, it was far too strong for him to block or take and an instant later he was gone.

"Man, that was easy." Trunks said, crossing his arms. "I thought the Armored Squadron was supposed to be tough."

"Uh... Trunks...." Goten said slowly.

"What?" he asked looking at his friend

"Ummm, we've got a problem."

Trunks looked from Goten down to where he was looking and saw that a small army was now surging out of the light below them. "This... could be bad." 


	30. The War Begins

Chapter Thirty - The War Begins

Goku stood, with a number of others, outside the Grand Kai's mansion and staring at the sky. The reason? There was a pulsing light forming there and slowly growing larger. "What do you think it is?" Goku asked.

"I don't know." Pikkon replied. "But I don't like it. Has anyone contacted the Grand Kai yet!?" he called, looking around.

"Someone has." the Grand Kai said as he walked up behind them with the other Kais not far behind. "This is most troublesome indeed." he said as he gazed at the light.

"Do you know what it is?" Sora asked.

"It is a tear." said Mikomi, softly. "Between here and the Mortal Plane. A breakdown of the barriers that exist between the planes." She shook her head. "First the doors seal and now this."

"This isn't natural, I fear." said the Grand Kai.

"Hmm, no, I doubt it is." Mikomi replied. "Someone is on the other side strengthening the tear, making it more stable and manageable."

"Why would someone do that?" asked Bardock.

The Kais remained silent for a long time as the tear suddenly calmed as well. It wasn't until it started pulsing and growing again that any of them spoke. "Recent events have lead me to believe..." Mikomi began. "That Makai is planning an invasion. One that is soon to begin."

"Makai?" asked Olibu.

"Our opposite." replied King Kai. "There are two Realms. Shinkai and Makai. Shinkai is ruled by the Kais while Makai is ruled by the Mazoku. They are two sides of reality, two sides of life, two sides of the balance. Good and evil. Neither can exist without the other. But every few dozen million years a Mazoku King will decide to launch an invasion of Shinkai in the hopes of trapping us and taking control of the Realm."

Mikomi nodded. "And it would seem they have elected to make another bid for control of this Realm. Unfortunately we are ill prepared to face them and the Realm is in poor condition due to the current imbalance that exists. These tears are a result of the imbalance and I believe the Mazoku and the Demons mean to use them as an easy access path through the entire Realm. I fear that, this time, we will not be able to drive them off."

Bardock half frowned and half smirked at what he heard. Things seemed rather desperate but at the same time the situation appealed to him, to his Sai-jin nature. For the last few years he'd had only Goku to spar with and not much else for way of fighting. Sparring was good but doing so against the same person constantly got boring. And sometimes something more than just a spar was what one needed to really get the blood flowing.

"So um, who are you, anyway?" Goku asked.

"GOKU!" King Kai cried.

Mikomi laughed and waved a hand in the short Kai's direction. "It's quite alright." she said. "My name is Mikomi and I am a Supreme Kai. The last Supreme Kai at the moment."

"Last?" asked Bardock.

She nodded. "That is the cause of the imbalance I mentioned. There should be four of us but... my three fellow Supreme Kais died some time ago. Kibito here shall replace one of them in a few hundred years but unfortunately much damage has occurred to the Realm since the passing of the others. Thus we find ourselves in our current situation."

As she finished the tear above them flashed a bright white, brighter than any of the previous times. Those gathered on the planet watched on in a mix of confusion and apprehension as they waited for something to happen.

"Hmmm? What's this?" The Grand Kai said softly as he turned to face the other way. The others all turned a moment later as a flash of white came from behind them. "Another tear has been stabilized.... do you think they mean to secure them all?"

Mikomi closed her eyes for a moment. And then she floated into the air and gazed down at the gathered warriors, another flash of light occurring in the distance. "Noble warriors." she began, her voice raised just enough that all could hear her. "We are on the verge of a disaster unlike anything this Realm has ever seen. The doors to the Mortal Plane are closed and sealed by unknown forces. The dead cannot crossover.

"And now paths have been opened between Otherworld and the Mortal Plane. Paths that the Demons who will soon attack may freely cross. All worlds and all Planes are in danger. This will be a war unlike any you have before witnessed. I ask all of you to lend us your strength in the coming battles. We must do what we can to keep the Demons from crossing into the Mortal Plane. We MUST hold the line here!"

As she finished a loud rumbling began to sound and then the planet to quake. Everyone began looking about for the cause and then someone let out a cry and pointed toward the golden clouds in the distance. The clouds that separated Otherworld from the H.F.I.L. were turning black. Black and red energy was beginning to punch holes through them. And then, suddenly, there was a flash of red and a thundering crack.

The clouds were destroyed, the barrier between the two Planes was gone, and the pulsing tears all through Otherworld had turned blood red. And then came the war cries as an army of Demons and dead warriors surged up from the lower Plane and charged the Grand Kai's world.

"Oh man!" Goku cried, wide eyed. "She wasn't kidding when she said a war!"

Bardock smirked. "I'll take the right side, you can have left."

"Hey, leave some for me." Appla said stepping up beside them.

"Hold them off!" Pikkon called, lifting into the air. "Keep them away from the tear!" A rallying cheer rose up through the warriors but, even as it did, Bardock doubted they could keep them all away. There were too many and they were coming from too many directions. The best they could hope for was to take out as many as possible and let those still alive deal with the ones that slipped through.

An instant later the sounds of battle raged through Otherworld. Goku, Bardock, Pikkon, Olibu, Appla, Sora, Zenryou, Mikomi, Kibito, and a few dozen others were cutting through the majority of the attackers with ease. Felling dozens of enemies with single blasts of energy. The four lower Kais were having a bit more trouble, especially the North and West Kais who were the two weakest.

Several of the dead warriors were also struggling to keep up with the majority of attackers but most were at least able to hold their own in one on one battles. The problem was, one on one didn't happen very often. Usually there were ten of them coming down on you at once. "King Kai!" Goku called, thrusting out an arm and firing a stream of blue energy.

The short Kai looked up as he heard a grunt and saw the energy beam punch through a rather nasty looking Demon with a very large mouth that had apparently thought the Kai looked like a good snack. "Thanks Goku!" he called back with a wave. As he looked passed his pupil toward the tear he caught something he didn't like the sight of. "They've broken through!" he yelled.

Goku, Bardock, and Appla all turned to look and, sure enough, a stream of Demons and dead people, notable from the Demons by their halos, were surging toward the tear. Goku was about to charge them when a glimpse of an individual among them froze him in his tracks. "No way!" he cried.

"Goku? What is it?" Appla asked.

Goku didn't answer, he shot off at full speed toward those now pouring through the tear. But he hadn't even gotten half way there when an energy blast slammed into his back and knocked him into the ground. As he rolled over onto his back the sounds of fighting began to die down around him. The attacking Demons and dead were pulling back.

And then he saw who had attacked him. It was a female Demon. Pitch black skin darker than any black he'd ever seen before. Sharp fangs. Glowing red eyes. No hair but two massive blood red horns on top of her head so large at the base they took up her entire scalp. They hooked up and back and tapered off to a point about a foot behind her head. She had on robes of blood red.

Behind her and to her left was another Demon that stood out. Porcelain white skin. Ice blue eyes. Shoulder length black hair. A pair of brown horns that grew out of the side of her head that reminded Goku of the horns of a bull. And the same blood red clothing. "Who...?" Goku wondered.

"I am Tenma." the white one said.

"And I am Demona." said the dark one.

And then, together. "In the name of the One True King of Makai, we claim this Realm."

"One true..." Mikomi said, softly. And then her eyes widened. "No! You can't mean...."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mortal Plane, Earth, South City, EDF Detention Center

"Man, it's gone completely nuts out there!" a guard said as he shut and locked the door behind him. "There's freaking Zombies everywhere! What the hell is going on?"

"Beats me." replied another. The two were both Humans and fairly new recruits to the EDF. As such their powers weren't exceptionally high and so they'd landed jobs as guards at the EDF's South City Detention Center. Jobs they had been complaining about being boring just a few hours ago but were now thanking the Kais they had as the rest of the EDF was being called out to fight the growing Zombie problem.

"It's the end of the world, that's what." said their only prisoner as he leaned against the wall by the barrier field that covered the exit of his cell. "End of the galaxy, even." He nodded toward the little TV in a small recess in the wall of the cell. It was currently tuned to the Galactic News Network and GNN was covering the emergence of Zombies on multiple planets now. It hadn't been more than twenty minutes since they'd first appeared and GNN already had reporters on location on Earth, Planet Vegeta, and Tanaria.

Suddenly he and the guards jumped as a series of loud bangs sounded against the door into the holding area of the center, where they were. The guards glanced at each other and then checked the monitor at their desk as more bangs came. "Oh, hell, it's just Ward." one them said as he moved over to the door and opened it.

"Gard, close the door, quick!" Ward said as he entered the room. "The blasted Zombies have broken into the building."

"Hey, guys, come on!" the man in the cell called. "You have to let me out of here!"

"No way in hell." the guard named Gard said. "You're just as dangerous as those Zombies!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure I stay alive." the man said. "I can't protect myself from in here. I wont attack you."

"And why, exactly, should we believe you?" asked Ward.

Before the man could answer there was another bang at the door. The three guards glanced at each other then moved over to the desk and looked at the screen. There was a Zombie leaning against the door trying to push it open. And there were more shambling up behind him.

"Because," the man finally said. "You've got two options. Let me out so I can blast those Zombies or wait for them to come in and rip you apart."

The three glanced at each other again. "What do you think guys?" Gard asked.

"I'm not sure..." said Ward. "It certainly beats letting them attack us but... I don't trust him. How about you Jairel?"

Jairel sighed. "What choice do we have, really?" he asked.

Ward nodded and then turned from the other two and walked over to the cell. "Alright, we'll let you out. But you better not double cross us or I'll make sure to come back as one of them things just to eat you, got it Autoro?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get me out of here."

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Otherworld, Grand Kai's World

Demona smirked, a gesture only discernable on her face by the gleam of her white teeth. "So, you remember him. Yes. Quietus rules Makai once more. And soon he shall rule your pathetic Realm as well."

Mikomi froze in place at the sound of the name. Quietus. The Demon that had grown powerful beyond his post and laid claim to the position of Mazoku King around two thousand years ago. His power had surpassed that of even Dabura and it had taken the combined effort of the Mazoku King, herself, and her last fellow Supreme Kai to stop him then. And to do so had cost Shin his life.

They had been unable to match him in power. Even with the three of them working together it was impossible. And so they had been forced to use a plan of desperation. A powerful spell that would seal the Demon away. Trapped in a prison he would be unable to escape. Sealed within a Blood Crystal. But a Blood Crystal required blood in order to be made. Blood of opposing force to that which was to be contained. In this case, that had meant Kai blood.

Mikomi had offered, had insisted, but Shin refused. He said that it should be him, she was the stronger of the two of them left and so she was better equipped to protect Shinkai than he. And she watched over the most important of the Planes of Shinkai, their plane, and so long as it remained intact the Realm could be healed in time. She had little choice but to concede his point and agree.

And so the three of them had worked together. Kai and Mazoku. They cast the spell, forged the Blood Crystal, and trapped Quietus within it. Though death was not the end it had still been a painful experience and Shin had offered to remain to keep her company but she had refused and so he, like their fallen comrades before, had moved on to Heaven.

For Quietus to be back, now... for him to be in power again... it just wasn't possible. And... if he was in power again, was in control of Makai... then what of Dabura? Had the Mazoku King been slain? Mikomi knew that the four Supreme Mazoku of Makai would side with Quietus as they had before. If Dabura was dead then... there was no one who could help them.

Mikomi's legs nearly gave out on her as she realized just how bad the situation was. If Dabura were dead then she was the strongest opposition to Quietus left. And he was nearly twice her power. What hope, then, was there? She closed her eyes. /Hope... we can never give up on hope./ she thought. /So long as we still have hope there is always a chance to prevail./

Her eyes opened again, a second later, as she was pulled from her thoughts by a voice. "Kaio Ken times TEN!" Olibu cried, shooting into the air toward Demona. He never reached her. Tenma appeared between them and smashed he knee into his face knocking him back toward the surface of the planet.

"If you resist we will be left with no choice but to destroy you." Tenma said.

"Do not through away your existences." said Demona. "Pledge loyalty to Quietus, King of All Things, and you will be spared."

"How?" Mikomi asked, finally getting her voice back. "How is he free? How are...."

Now Tenma smiled revealing that her teeth where just as sharp and just as black as Demona's were white. "Some of your own helped it happen. Souls sent into the lower realms working together with those of Makai still loyal to Quietus. It took us a thousand years to get to this day but it was a thousand years well spent."

"As for our power." began Demona. "It was granted to us by our Master. He has given us power enough to crush this realm." She'd raised an arm and clenched her hand into a fist as she finished, to emphasize the point.

"I don't know about that." Bardock said, smiling, eyes turning to Tenma. "You're strong, I'll give you that. I felt that power spike when you attacked Olibu. But you can't beat us."

Demona laughed. "We are now stronger than even Malchio, the Grand Mazoku! Foolish mortal, you could never hope to match our power!"

Bardock's smile turned into a smirk and he glanced toward Goku and found his son looking at him with the same expression. It was almost like looking into a mirror. The two turned to face the pair of Demons again and slipped into fighting stances as they flashed bright golden. An instant later the two were surging up at the pair of, now very startled, Demons. The sudden power increases of the two Sai-jins had thrown them off-guard enough that they didn't recover before the two reached them.

Bardock slammed a knee into Tenma doubling her over while Goku flipped over Demona and came down between her horns slamming his knee into the back of her head. Goku spun quickly and kicked her in the side of the head knocking her one direction while Bardock backhanded Tenma and sent her in the other direction. They both had the same idea. In a one on one fight they could win, no questions asked. But if the Demons helped each other it could be a problem.

Tenma pulled to a stop and just barely dodged around a punch from Bardock and then blocked a kick. "Who... what are you?" she asked, the disbelief evident in her voice.

Bardock smirked. "Me? I'm a Super Sai-jin." 


	31. Youngest Defenders

Chapter Thirty-one - Youngest Defenders

"Trunks, we have to do something!" Goten cried as people continued to pour out of the light.

"I'm open to suggestions." Trunks said.

"We plow through them." answered Sakura. "Take out as many of them as you can as quickly as you can." She gazed down over the crowd of opponents that were gathering below them. Apparently they'd gone unnoticed so far. The invaders seemed to be assembling into formations. If they could break them up before they were able to get organized... "We'll split up into groups. Goten, Trunks, you two take the left side. Cheri, Akemi, you take the right. I'll take the middle."

"But... Sakura...." Akemi said softly.

"I know." she replied. "But we have to hold them here until the others get here. It's dangerous for all of us, not just me." She looked up from the invaders and at her sister. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. You just make sure you don't get hurt either."

Akemi bit her lip for a moment as she thought and then nodded. "Ok."

"Alright, move out!" Trunks cried, blasting off.

"Hey, Trunks, wait for me!" Goten cried, shooting after him.

Cheri and Akemi giggled as they took off as well. And then Sakura surged down at those directly below her. She thrust her arms out and let go with a series of energy blasts which rained down on the unsuspecting creatures and exploded taking out small chunks of them before they even realized they were under attack.

However, the explosions soon got the attention of those on the ground and they quickly located her. A few of the uglier ones, as far as Sakura was concerned, surged up at her. One that looked like an over musscled hairless wolf-man creature with bat wings, one that looked like a slab of meat with a half dozen arms, no legs, and snot covering its body, and others she didn't want to look at close enough to tell what they were.

She avoided contact with the snot covered one and quickly blasted it in what she thought was the head and then turned to dodge a punch from the wolf-man-bat-thing. As she kicked it in the back she sent a blast of orange energy down behind her punching through another that had tried to attack her from behind.

"Stand back." said a voice that sounded rather familiar to Sakura.

She turned toward it and saw a large and muscular man with bright red hair floating up toward her. Unlike the others, he looked normal. And he was wearing battle armor. /Why does he look..../ "RECOOME!" she cried, as his face clicked with the pictures and videos she'd seen. /I should have realized... Akemi said the Armored Squadron mentioned him. But then... how many of the others our families have taken out are in this army...?/ She swallowed and shook her head, not liking those thoughts.

Below her Recoome laughed as he floated up higher. "Must be my lucky day." he said, grinning. "I was looking forward to revenge against that Tanarian for what she did to me. Killing you will be a nice start."

"My mom could wipe the floor with you." Sakura said, slipping into a combat stance. "She's a lot stronger than she was then. And I'm stronger than she was, too!"

"I've gotten stronger too, girly." Recoome said. "Come on, let's see what you can do!"

Sakura's eyes widened as Recoome charged in at her. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!" she cried, her orange aura vanishing in a burst of silver as she just barely dodged around a punch from the large warrior. /Damn, he's stronger than me. Still, it's not too bad, I just need to hold him off for a few minutes./

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Meanwhile Goten and Trunks had fired off attacks of their own wiping out a good portion of the attacking army and drawing attention to themselves. But even the strongest of the creatures that charged them fell easily as the boys kept up their assault. "This is like shooting fish in a barrel." Trunks said. "There's a lot of them but they're not much challenge."

"Yeah."

"Oh, so you want a challenge?" asked a voice from behind them.

The two boys froze and turned slowly to look behind them to see who had spoken. "You... you're Frieza!" Trunks cried, shocked.

Frieza laughed. "Nice to know you monkeys haven't forgotten to be afraid of me." he said. "Hmm, you look...." he trailed off as he looked toward Goten. And then his eyes widened and darted back to Trunks. "You! You look just like... like them!"

"Them?" Goten asked, confused, glancing toward Trunks.

"I think he means your dad and the future me." Trunks said. "Remember, your dad beat him on Namek and my future self killed his father."

"Oh yeah!"

Frieza shook his head and then smiled. "Well now, isn't this nice? I was looking forward to my revenge and here I get to start it right away."

Goten and Trunks glanced at each other. "You ready Goten?"

Goten nodded. "Uh-huh! Time to go Super!"

"Right!" Trunks agreed. The two turned back to Frieza and then grinned as they flashed golden and transformed.

The former Tyrant's eyes widened and he drifted back a little in surprise. "Super... Super Sai-jins!?" he cried. And then he clenched his hands into fists. "Super Sai-jin brats! Well, Super Sai-jin or not, you're still just monkeys! I will have my revenge!"

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Cheri swerved around an energy blast and then fired her own taking out a half dozen of the creatures that made up most of the force coming through the light. As she fought them off she had to wonder just how what Akemi had seen was supposed to happen, how Sakura was supposed to be killed by one of these weaklings.

The Tanarian Princess' full power was about three times her own non-Oozaru power and she wasn't having the slightest trouble, even without going to full power. Neither was Akemi, though the younger girl was at her full power in her current form. It just didn't make any sense. The only explanation was that there were....

Her train of thought was cut off as a huge ball of purple energy nearly slammed into her. She'd just barely dodged around it in time. Turning to look at who had thrown the powerful attack her eyes widened. She easily recognized the purple alien from her history books. "Ginyu!?" she cried in shock.

"Yes!" Ginyu called, charging up toward her. "The great Captain Ginyu has returned!"

Cheri's eyes widened further at the other's speed. "Kaio Ken!" she cried, her silver aura vanishing in a burst of red as she just barely dodged around Ginyu's punch.

"What!?" Ginyu cried, turning to face her. "You... know that move too?"

"Huh?"

"That Kayo Ken thing."

"It's Kaio Ken, and duh, I'm using it, aren't I?"

Ginyu snorted. "No matter, you're still just a kid. Even with that move you couldn't hope to match my power! Ha!" In a burst of purple he surged in at her again and she realized, just from his speed, that he was right. He was still a lot faster than her.

"Cheri!" Akemi's voice called out. The call made Ginyu slow and turn slightly leaving him open to a punch from the half Sai-jin as the younger girl joined her. "He's strong!"

"Yeah." Cheri said, shaking her hand to make it stop stinging. "You need to transform again...."

"Ok." Akemi said, closing her eyes.

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"Do you guys feel that!?" Yamcha cried as they flew toward the arena. They'd only just taken off and were still more than nine minutes away.

Piccolo scowled. There were hundreds of powers ahead of them. Most of them were fairly weak compared to them, and even to the kids, but there were a few higher powers appearing on occasion as well. "Wait a second... I know that energy...." he said, his scowl deepening.

"What is it Piccolo?" Krillin asked.

"Hmm?" Vegeta began, focusing on the distant powers at the arena. "That's the boys... they've transformed.... WHAT!? FRIEZA!"

"What? Are you certain?" Nova asked.

"I don't know..." Vegeta said, slowly. "It definitely feels like him. But he should be dead...."

Raditz snorted. "So should all of the corpses flooding into the city."

"Only one way to find out for sure." Piccolo said, his aura flaring up brighter as he increased his speed.

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Sakura brought her arm up and blocked a punch aimed for her head with a resounding crack. The impact made her arm sting and sent tingles of numbness all the way down to her fingers and up to her shoulder. The difference in power between her and the large man she was fighting wasn't exceptional but it was clearly in his favor.

Blocking his attacks or deflecting his energy blasts left her sore and stinging. Dodging around his large arms or legs was tiring. His size slowed him down some but he was still a little faster than her. And the width of his limbs meant she had a good span of distance she had to avoid in order to avoid being hit.

Dodging around another swing she brought her fingers up to her temples and focused. She had a lot of trouble with any moves that relied on mental abilities but she knew this was one she could use because it didn't require vast amounts of power and relied more on ki than mental energy. "Kuro Omoi Seichuu!" she cried as Recoome charged her.

The large man froze in his tracks and Sakura lowered her arm with a sigh. But she knew she didn't have much time, he was already starting to inch foward again. Quickly she cupped her hands at her sides and began gathering energy. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." she cried, blue energy flaring up between her hands and then shifting silver as she continued. "Ryoooooooo. Kuuuuuuuuuuuu."

Down below her Recoome had opened his mouth and she saw red energy building inside his throat. Obviously he wasn't going to just let her blast him, unable to move or not. She scowled as she called out "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" and thrust her arms down at him, the silver stream of energy surging out quickly.

Recoome's counter shot off a couple seconds later and the beams met about three quarters of the way to him. As soon as they met she felt his attack pushing back against hers. /Damn it!/ she cried mentally. She'd not had time to channel enough power into her attack, even using the Kameryokuha. Even as she added more power to the attack she felt it being pushed back faster and faster.

Recoome was able to channel more power faster than her. There'd be no way she'd be able to increase her attack fast enough to even stop his counter, let alone overcome it. With a grunt of frustration she ended her attack and shot up into the air so that Recoome's mouth beam passed harmlessly beneath her.

As she looked back up from watching it pass her eyes widdened, Recoome was only a few inches away. She'd barely even had time to register his approach before his right fist slammed into her face and knocked her flying backward. Recoome quickly shot after her and caught up with her slamming an elbow down into her stomach and knocking her down into the ground.

Grinning and laughing he landed a few feet away. He clenched his hands and hunched over as his aura flared up. "Time to end this, time for you to die. Recoome! Ultimate! Bomber!" he cried.

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Goten and Trunks grinned as they flew, back to back, and each slammed an outstretched leg into the back of Frieza's head. The former ruller was smashed face first into the ground with a loud crash but he quickly rebounded with a grunt and growl. A second later he landed on his feet facing the kids again.

"You BRATS!" he cried, clenching his hands into fists. His purple aura flared up around him as the ground beneath his feet cracked and his muscles swelled. "Time to stop playing around. I will crush you with just 75% of my power!" He finished powering up and punctuated his declaration with a burst of energy.

"Whoa, Trunks, he's stronger than us." Goten said, wide eyed.

"Well duh." Trunks said. "He's stronger than Grandpa so of course he's stronger than us. But that just makes it more fun."

Goten grinned and nodded.

"Fun, eh?" Frieza asked, smirking. "I can assure you it wont be fun for long. I will show you a nightmare!" and with that he launched in again.

Goten and Trunks quickly dodged in opposite directions and Frieza shot an energy blast after each of them. Though he quickly ignored Trunks and surged toward Goten. As the young Sai-jin deflected the energy blast his eyes widened in shock. Before he had a chance to react, Frieza's fist smashed into his face and sent him flying backward.

The former tyrant shot after him and quickly caught up to him. As he did he grabbed his head and slammed it down into his knee as he thrust his leg up. The young Super Sai-jin's head snapped back and then Frieza's foot smashed into his stomach knocking him down into the ground. He was about to fire an energy blast down at him but a leg suddenly appeared before him and then a foot slammed into his face and knocked him back.

Frieza flipped over in the air and was about to charge in again but all three of them came to a stop as a loud and bright explosion sounded not more than four hundred yards away. "What was that!?" Goten cried, as he watched the towering burst of red energy surging into the sky like an erruption.

Trunks blinked a couple of times, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. "G-Goten. Can you... can you sense Sakura?" he asked.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I be..." he started, but then trailed off as he realized he couldn't. "Trunks... you don't think she was...?"

"Oh man... Goten, you stay here and deal with him!" Trunks said, his aura flaring up around him. "I'm going to go and find Sakura!"

"Right!"

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"I think not!" Ginyu cried, firing off a ball of purple energy at the five year old. Akemi's eyes opened wide as she felt it nearing and she quickly slipped to the side. Cheri launched in at the horned alien and began trying to attack him but Ginyu was able to dodge around all of her swings.

"Damn it, this is getting us no where. Akemi!"

"I'm trying!" the girl called back. She'd drifted away from the two of them and closed her eyes again but she couldn't focus. "I can't... I can't get it to work!" she cried after a minute. "I can't transform!"

Cheri cursed under her breath as she dodged around a kick. She could tell Ginyu wasn't even really trying which meant he definitely wasn't at his full power yet and she couldn't even hit him. She could always transform but... she didn't know if that would be such a good idea. Transforming would leave her tail exposed and that could put them in an even worse situation. If Ginyu grabbed it, or worse, removed it....

"I'm sorry." Akemi said as she came up beside her friend and joined in on the battle.

"It's ok Akemi." Cheri said. "Not your fau-oof!" her sentence was cut short as a knee slammed into her stomach and then Ginyu smashed an elbow down in into her back driving her into the ground.

"Hahaha! This is child's play!" Ginyu laughed.

While he was gloating Akemi smashed a fist into his face but the attack had no effect. "Uh-oh." she said softly, floating back. /What do I... my powers!/ she thought with a smile. She closed her eyes and focused again. She felt Ginyu charge at her but she pushed that from her mind and continued to concentrate. She just needed a second more....

Ginyu was almost on her when she opened her eyes and thrust her arms out. An instant later he smashed head first into an invisible barrier about three feet away from her. Akemi grinned. "Hehe, it worked!"

"Nice one Akemi!" Cheri called up as she climbed to her feet, untying her belt. There really wasn't any choice left. The adults were still a while off which meant it was up to her to keep Akemi safe. "Keep him busy for a bit!" Dropping her belt to the ground she hunched over and let out a yell as she gathered her power.

Ginyu had just recovered from his impact with the non-existant wall and was about to try and attack Akemi again when he heard the yells from below. Looking down his eyes widened as he saw the other girl growing in size. "What is... she's transforming into an Oozaru!? No, I wont allow it!"

"No you don't!" Akemi cried, reaching out and closing her hand as though trying to grab him.

"W-what is this!?" Ginyu cried as he suddenly felt pressure around his body and began to slow down. Akemi was unable to stop him completely but she'd seriously impeeded his movement. Grinning the girl thrust her arm to the side and flung the alien away from her friend. Then she thrust her other arm out and down and fired off a blast of energy at him.

Ginyu recovered in time to defelect the attack but then noticed that Cheri was now fully transformed. /Damn, I'll have to deal with the Oozaru first, then that little brat./ he thought. He'd been just about to charge when the explosion flared up a little more than five hundred yards away. He glanced toward it, recognized the attack as Recoome's, and then turned back to find both opponents distracted. /Haha! Perfect!/ he thought, launching in.

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"What was that!?" Krillin cried as an explosion flared up in the distance.

"Recoome." Yamcha said softly, recognizing the energy.

"That's where Sakura was..." said Videl. "I can't...."

Piccolo growled. "We have to hurry." 


	32. The Second Wave

Chapter Thirty-two - The Second Wave

Mikomi held a hand out and blocked Kibito as he moved to join the battle. When he glanced down at her she smiled and shook her head. "No, let them handle those two for now." she said. "Keep your attention on the others."

Kibito nodded and glanced around. The other Demons had decided to pull back from the battle. The Demon front lines were now beyond the tear which meant they were able to cross through it to the Mortal Plane as they chose to. But he quickly saw that they were no longer flooding through the opening in massive numbers. Instead there was a small group of Demons ushering a handful of individuals through the tear on sporadic occasions.

"What of them?" he asked, nodding toward the tear.

"We must trust those on the other side for now." she replied after moment. "I believe they can hold their own." Mikomi took a deep breath and then let it out in a long sigh. "One thing you must still grow to learn and follow is that Mortals are to be left to their own ends. This invasion may be of super natural design but so long as Mortals step up to face it then they must be allowed to try."

Kibito nodded. Letting Mortals deal with things themselves was one area he'd always had trouble with, even now after four hundred years. Of course, it was a hard transition to make. Going from always being on the front lines protecting to being stuck doing nothing more than watching. And until now watching was the only option he'd had.

He'd been stuck watching when, a hundred years after his death, his world in the South Galaxy had been conquered by a newly forming galactic empire. Stuck watching as his people resisted and fought back with everything they had to restore their basicly peaceful way of life. And stuck watching as the last of his people challanged the general of that empire and died in battle, bringing an end to his race.

It had been a gut wrenching but humbling experience. A hard learned lesson of the nature of the universe. It was not his place to decide who needed saving or who needed to be killed. Mortals were in charge of their own lives. Their fates were in their own hands. But he had gone to welcome each and every one of them as they crossed to Otherworld. And that had been the hardest part of all.

Some had understood why he could do nothing. Some had even disagreed with his desire to help, believing already that Mortal affairs were the business of Mortals, not of the Kais. But those that had not understood, those that had yelled at him for not helping or pleaded with him to save someone they had left behind had been the worst.

But it had also made him understand something that Mikomi had told him when he had first met her. It was a sentiment that could be found on every world in various forms. 'Protect someone for a day and they live to see tomorrow. Teach them to protect themselves and they live to see their grand children.' No matter what the threat, what the challenge, so long as the Mortals strove to stand against it they could not interfere unless they deemed it a threat to the entire Realm. It was their right to stand and defend themselves if they chose.

Kibito turned his attention back to the battle as Goku slipped around a punch from Demona and then slammed a knee into her stomach followed by an elbow into the back of her neck. She quickly countered by slamming an elbow into the Sai-jin's stomach and knocking him away but he recovered quickly and deflected her kick before slamming an energy incased fist into her face and knocking her back.

He then vanished and reappeared behind her slamming a kick into her back before teleporting in front and above her and smashing a fist down into her head knocking her into the ground. He sent a ball of gold energy down after her that exploded on impact. A second later the dust from the explosion blasted apart as Demona surged back up to attack again.

"He's quite good." Kibito said as he watched. "She is stronger than him but he has the upper hand in the battle."

"The other as well, though he has a significant power advantage." Mikomi said. While Kibito had turned to watch Goku's fight she had been watching Bardock's. The elder Sai-jin had avoided every atatck Tenma had attempted and countered half of them with powerful body blows. The two Sai-jins were more than just strong, they were exceptionally skilled as well.

"Gah, hold still damn you!" Tenma yelled as the Sai-jin swerved around a volley of energy blasts.

Bardock smirked and, instead of dodging the last blast, deflected it back at her. Her eyes widened and she tried to slip around it but it slammed into her shoulder and then the Sai-jin's knee pounded into the side of her head. "You may be strong." he said as she recovered. "But you don't have much skill."

"Enough, time to end this!" Tenma snarled as the nails on her right hand began to glow purple. And then she whipped her arm out and four arcs of light surged out toward Bardock like whips. The Sai-jin dodged to the right but the energy followed him and second later his arms were bound to his body. Then she held out her left arm as black and red energy began to gather before her palm.

Bardock tried to move or break the energy bands holding him but he could barely even expand his lungs enough to breathe. He was just about to admit he was out of options when the energy Tenma had gathered shot at him. Seconds before it hit the Sai-jin vanished, the energy closing around nothing and the blast missing completely. There was a loud crack a second later as his foot slammed into the back of her head.

Tenma whirled around and growled. "Demona!" she called, looking back toward the other. She was still trying to attack Goku but the Sai-jin was dodging or block everything. "I think we need to regroup."

Demona narrowed her eyes, not liking admitting that they were having trouble with a pair of Mortals, but knowing the other was right. Finally she nodded and pulled away from her opponent. The pair of Sai-jins shot in to prevent them from getting near each other again but the two suddenly shimmered and vanished before appearing again a few dozen yards away.

"You're good for Shinkai scum." Demona said. "And exceptional for Mortals. But this is the end of the line. Even if you got lucky and defeated us there are others stronger than us out there. And of course, Quietus himself."

Bardock shrugged. "Sounds like fun to me." he said, still grinning.

Demona growled but Tenma laughed. "You may think that now, Mortal, but you'd feel differently when he's crushing you under foot. Quietus' power is unmatched in either Realm! But it wont matter, you will be eliminated here." She then turned to the other. "Let's end this sister."

"Yes, let's." Demona replied. The two each pointed an arm down at the Sai-jins, one the right and the other the left, so that their palms were side by side. And then black and purple energy began to gather before them. Goku and Bardock's eyes quickly widened as they felt how fast the energy was gathering. And then, together, they called out "Dark Oblivion!"

The two Sai-jins reacted quickly, cupping thier hands at their sides and then thrusting their arms up. "Kamehameha!" they cried in unison, the blue wave of energy surging out and impacting the large Ki blast only a few dozen feet away from them. The back wash of power from the attacks caused a lot of those in the area to fall over as the two Sai-jins focused on increasing the wave's power to stop the oncoming attack.

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Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Goten's eyes widened and he ducked quickly under a tail swipe from Frieza. He went to counter but the Changeling's foot slammed into him and knocked him back. As he pulled to a stop he let out a yelp of surprise and just barely avoided an elbow to the face. "Oh man, this is a lot harder on my own!" he cried just dodging around a punch.

Frieza chuckled. "Realized yet that you can't win?" he asked.

"I can still win." Goten said, smiling. "I just have to take it up a notch. Nibai Kinryoku!" In a flash his aura and hair shifted to silver and his smile grew. "Ok, my turn now!" he cried shooting in.

Frieza stared in shock for a second, not sure what had just happened, but then smirked as the kid neared, confident he could handle any Sai-jin child. When Goten was within range he launched a kick at his head but the small warrior dodged around it effortlessly and then slammed a fist into his stomach that doubled him over. He followed that up with an elbow uppercut to the jaw and then a spinning kick to the chest that knocked the Changeling back.

"That... that hurt!" Frieza cried as he flipped around and landed again. "How dare you! You... you're just a monkey! An infant! I'll show you!" His aura flared up around him as his power climbed and his musscles increased again. A moment later he let out a grunt as his arua subsided back to normal and he smirked. "Now you shall taste my full power, power greater than it ever was before!"

Goten crossed his arms and frowned. "That's all you've got?" he asked. "I wont even have to try."

"What!? Why you! Take this!" Frieza shouted thrusting an arm forward and firing a blast of purple energy at the young Super Sai-jin. Goten just jumped up and kicked it back at the last second. The Changeling barely managed to doge as it surged toward and passed him. "That's... impossible.... No... no monkey child can have that kind of power...."

Goten just grinned and scratched the back of his head. "So, give up?" he asked.

Frieza growled and clenched his right hand into a fist before raising his arm over his head and then raising one finger. Energy quickly began to gather. "I will destroy you!" he roared. "I will obliterate everything if I have to!"

Goten's grin turned into a scowl and then he vanished. Frieza's eyes widened but before he could look for where the child had gone a foot slammed into the back of his neck and he fell forward, unconcious. With that dealt with he turned the way Trunks had gone and took off.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Cheri felt the twinge of a nearing power and reacted out of instinct. Her large right arm came up and backhanded Ginyu away. Her focus now back on her opponent she turned to face him and growled. The horned alien quickly recovered and then began to power up. She quickly launched a massive fist at him worried that his full power might be greater than her current level but he managed to dodge around it and quickly finished his power up.

Her worry faded when she felt the power up stop at a level far enough under her's she wouldn't have much trouble. But she kept her eyes locked on him and made sure there was plenty of distance between him and her tail. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Akemi concentrating again, trying once again to transform.

/What do I do?/ Ginyu wondered as he concentrated on the Oozaru before him. She was shifting every time he moved to a side keeping her large body between him and her tail. /If I can't remove her tail... I can't switch bodies with her, she's only stronger than me when transformed. Hmmm, maybe the other girl..../ The thought made him grin. That was the answer! But first he'd have to distract the monkey.

Quickly he shot off to the side and fired a volley of energy blasts toward the general direction of the Oozaru's tail. As expected she moved to prevent them from reaching their target but Ginyu was already moving in the other direction and shooting off more blasts. Again she turned to block them and this time Ginyu shot up quickly forming an energy disc over his right hand and then launching it.

Cheri saw it coming and her eyes narrowed. It's arcing path would bring it out around her. If she turned to counter it she'd have her back to Ginyu. If she didn't she could lose her tail. She quickly focused her mind and her aura flared up around her as she lifted off the ground. Flying as an Oozaru wasn't impossible but it was a lot harder, the mind wasn't as good at manipulating Ki in the Oozaru form.

But she manged to get up enough that the disc sped by her harmlessly. That done she turned her focus back to Ginyu who she'd sensed hadn't moved to attack her again. And then she saw why. He was facing Akemi only a few dozen yards from her, his arms and legs out, and glowing. "Change now!" he cried.

"What!?" Cheri's deepend voice bellowed. "Akemi, look out!" she yelled.

The young royal's eyes opened and she saw the stream of light surging toward her. Shock and fear held her in place and a second later the move hit. But then there was a loud crack and bright flash of white and Ginyu left out a scream as he grabbed his head in pain before falling to the ground unconcious. /What... happened?/ Cheri wondered.

Akemi opened her eyes, she'd closed them to shield them from the flash of light, and then looked down at her hands. She laughed and looked toward Cheri. "I guess that don't work on me." she said, grinning.

Cheri just shrugged it off, maybe it really didn't work on Tanarians or something, and then reached out a leg and squashed Ginyu under one of her large feet. "There. Now let's...." Her eyes snapped wide in pain and then her power began to drop as she shrank in size.

"Cheri!" Akemi cried, shooting down toward her friend, and their new enemy.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Trunks pulled up to the edge of the crater only a minute or so after the light had faded. He could see a rather large man standing in the center of the crater holding someone up by the head and it only took a second for him to realize it was Sakura.

"You're tougher than I thought." Recoome said, grinning, as he looked the girl in the eyes. Blood was running down the side of her face and her arms hung limply at her sides. "I thought for sure you'd die. But look at you, you survived. Though you can't even move now. How about I stop the pain and just crush your head in?" he asked laughing.

"I don't think so idiot!" Trunks called as he charged in. Recoome had time to look up and see the golden streak surging at him but little else before the small Sai-jin had charged into his chest sending him sailing off into the distance and out of sight. He turned around quickly as soon as he hit the large man and caught his friend as she fell, the impact having freed her from his grasp. "Oh man...." he said, looking down at her as he laid her on the ground.

She grimaced a little and smiled. "Thanks, Trunks." she said faintly. "I was... barely able to... block that."

"You call this blocking?" Trunks asked, the worry evident on his voice.

"I'm alive... aren't I?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"Yeah. I guess so." he replied, sitting down beside her. "Just hold on, I can feel the others. They're close."

"It's not... like they'll... be able to... do much." she said. "But that's ok... I'm good... just... hurt... a lot."

Turnks was feeling better as Sakura talked. Her voice was weak but her Ki, though low, was stable. And she was smiling for some stupid reason. "Well, you still look like crap."

"Gee, thanks." Sakura mumbled as she shifted a bit to try and get more comfortable. Though comfortable seemed like a foreign concept to her at the moment. She figured her arms had to be broken in at least ten places each, but they had taken the brunt of Recoome's attack after her quickly errected Ki shield had failed. She was just happy they were the only places broken, the rest was just battered and bruised.

She turned her head to the side quickly as she heard an odd sound. "What was that?" she asked.

Trunks was looking as well and he didn't like what he saw. "The light's opening again, more are coming out!"

Sakura arched her back so that her head was up over the lip of the crater and she could see the light again. Sure enough it was now open and a stream of people were surging out and going off in different directions. Her best guess put the new arrivals numbering around eighty. Not as many as she'd originally worried. She was about to lower herself back down after the light had shrunk but it suddenly expanded again and five more came through.

"Spread out!" one of the five, a woman, ordered. "Remember our orders, find the strongest first!" 


	33. The Generals

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Major computer issues (that still aren't entirely fixed). Forunately I've got back-ups of most, if not all, of what I'd already had written. One or two chapters may have been lost, wont know until our new computer is up and working correctly. But I do still have most of them, and so as apology for the delay, you get THREE new chapters today! Yay for you!

Chapter Thirty-three - The Generals

"Out of our way!" Piccolo bellowed as he thrust his arms at a large group of the odd invading creatures who'd surged toward them. A rush of green energy surged out and incinerated the lot of them. They were at the edge of the gathered invading warriors now and it was evident just how much chaos the kids had caused in their assault. The attackers were scattered about randomly, still trying to regroup.

"They bought us time it seems." Videl said as she looked over the chaos before them. "If they hadn't attacked them then these guys would probably be all over the planet by now."

"There's Cheri." Vadora said as she spied her daughter off in the distance. An Oozaru was a hard thing to miss. "I'm going to head over there." She veered off from the main group, along with Tien, and flew off toward her daughter who was now shrinking.

"That's it." Vegeta said, pointing toward the stadium. The others looked and saw the pulsing light just inisde the partially destroyed arena. "That's where they're coming from, I saw it in the last vision." As he spoke the light expanded and a flood of new attackers came through.

Piccolo growled. "I know that energy." he said. "It's a tear between the planes. These things are coming from Otherworld."

"Otherworld?" Nova asked. "But... how? What are they?"

Piccolo shook his head. "I don't know. My guess is that they're all people who've died. Something must have happened in Otherworld...."

Vegeta snorted. "An H.F.I.L. jail break I'd bet. Well, how about we send them back where they belong?" he said as he started to descend. As he did he noticed the light, the tear according to Piccolo, expand and open again. This time he recognized those who emerged and the words the woman spoke.

"Sakura!" Hotaru cried, seeing her daughter laying in the crater. She quickly shot down and landed with her. "Sakura...."

"I'm ok." she said softly. "Looks worse than it... is...."

"Where are the others?" Yamcha asked, landing as well.

"We split up." Trunks answered. "Cheri and Akemi are off that way and I left Goten to deal with Frieza after I felt Sakura's energy drop."

"So, that was Frieza." Vegeta said. He and the others had landed in the crater as well. "I don't sense him anymore, and Goten's on his way here...."

"I actually feel sorry for him." Raditz said with a shake of his head. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Alright!" Goten cheered as he reached them and landed. "You're ok Sakura! We were worried when we couldn't sense you anymore!"

"Depends on your definition of ok." Trunks said with a frown.

"Well, you kids did good but we'll take over from here." Gohan said. He then turned to Vegeta. "Do you feel that?"

The Sai-jin nodded. The five that had come in before hadn't moved since Hotaru's earlier shout for her daughter. They were standing near the edge of the crater watching them and two of them were powerful, even with their energies supressed. "We can sense you up there, you know." he said,turning to face them.

There were five of them and each looked quite different than the next. They were standing in a line with the strongest in the middle, second and third strongest to either side of her, and the two weakest on the ends. Vegeta had only caught a quick glimpse of them in the vision so he took a moment to look them over.

The one on the far right, one of two females in the group, was the weakest of them all. She looked almost like a Human or a Sai-jin, only with dark red skin, a foot long black horn sticking out of the middle of her forehead, and long black claws on the ends of her fingers. Her eyes were green and her hair was blue and barely shoulder length. She was maybe half an inch short of five feet.

The fourth strongest, on the opposite end, was at least seven feet with arms as big around as the Sai-jin's waist. His skin was a pale blue, his face elongated like that of a lizard or horse, and his mouth full of sharp black teeth. His eyes were yellow green and reptillian looking and he was bald. He stood slightly hunched over and he had black spikes on his back and a long thick tail with a black spiked tip.

Directly to his left was the third strongest. He was about five and a half foot tall and about twice that around the waist. He had orange skin, black hair, purple eyes, and overly short arms and legs. The only other stand out feature was the lack of a normal nose, instead having two thin slits flat on his face in its place.

The second strongest stood on the other side of the strongest. He was about five foot eight and had solid black skin everywhere but the palms of his hands and his face which were a blood red. He was bald and had two large horns that emerged from around his temples and hooked back behind his head. His eyes were a solid glowing bright red and he had a long thin tail hanging behind him. He also had a pair of bat like wings folded about him like a cape.

The final member of the group was the second female. Around five feet with white hair and blue eyes she could have passed for a Human if it weren't for the golden yellow color of her skin. She, like the other four with her, wore robes of blood red. The matching attire, something the five didn't have in common with the other attackers, told him they were more directly connected to the current events than the others.

"So, are you the ones behind this?" he asked at last, eyes looked on the strongest of the five.

"In a manner of speaking." she replied, her voice soft and smooth. "We are the generals of the forces sent to conquer the Mortal Realm. I should thank you for saving us the trouble of tracking you down ourselves." Her eyes gazed over the gathering of warriors present. "I must say, I am impressed, for Shinkai scum you are fairly powerful. Were it not for our Master you would all surpass us...."

"Shinkai?" Piccolo repeated, scowling. The term sounded... familiar.

The golden skinned woman continued, turning her eyes toward Piccolo. "That one of you would be this strong is incredible indeed. But as I expected none of you are as dangerous as we were warned of. You are all pathetic...." her eyes turned toward Hotaru. "Some of you laughably so. I see now that word of your power was purely the delluded ramblings of those trying to not look pathetic by having been killed by you."

"Is that so?" Vegeta asked, smirking. "We'll see about that."

"Mortals are always so foolish." the weakest of the five said. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy sounding, like she'd been shouting non-stop for the last few days. "All that awaits you if you resist is your deaths and an eternity spent wandering the plane without the rest of the afterlife to soothe you."

"What are you talking about?" Piccolo demanded.

"The doors to Otherworld are sealed for good." she replied. "The dead can no longer crossover. A precaution taken so that you could not cause our Otherworld forces trouble after we had eliminated you here."

Piccolo's eyes widened slightly. "What? But that's impossible!"

The leader smirked as she spoked. "Nothing is impossible for the One True King of Makai."

/Makai..../ Piccolo thought, scowling. /Why does that sound... wait..../ "You... are you Mazoku?!"

"Ah, you know of the Realms then." the leader said. "But no, we are not the Mazoku. We are Demons of Makai."

"Piccolo, care to fill us in?" Gohan asked.

"Makai is our mirror." the Namek said. "Another Realm linked to our own. To keep the balance within reality two Realms exist. One ruled by good and one by evil. Our Realm is overseen by the Oni and the Kais while Makai is overseen by the Demons and the Mazoku."

"My, my." the fat Demon said, smiling, his voice a deep barritone. "For a Mortal you know an awful lot about the Realms."

"Let's just cut the chatter already." Vegeta interupted. "I don't particularly care who they are or where they're from. That they're in charge of the forces here, and that they're not related to Raven, is good enough for me."

"Agreed." Hotaru said standing back up and stepping around to stand between the Demons and her daughter. "I say we send them back to where they came from."

The weakest of the Demons laughed, the sound more like dry leaves rustling than a laugh due to the scratchy nature of her voice. "You can obviously sense Ki and yet you still think you can take us? I'm not even at full strength and I'm more than seventy times stronger than you. My full power is more than one hundred times greater than yours. You couldn't even tickle me."

"Do you mind if I fight her?" Gainin asked as he walked forward. "I haven't had a real battle in seven years." Hotaru glanced over to Vegeta and then both shrugged. Gainin smirked and slipped into a fighting stance. "Alright, this should be fun."

The Demon laughed again. "This one's so pitifully weak I can't even sense a power from it. Can I kill it, Angel?"

Angel, the group's leader, eyed Gainin up for a moment before replying. "Go for it Elazeba." she said at last. "But don't get cocky, there's something odd about this one."

"You worry over nothing." Elazeba replied as she took a few steps forward. "Alright Mortal, time to show you what real power is like!"

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Akemi slammed her fist into the face of the guy who'd just sliced off Cheri's tail but he didn't budge. "Uh-oh." she said as her eyes widened. Suddenly his arm came surging out and he backhanded her away and into the ground. Her impact blasted out a large crater and sent dozens of nearby Demons flying from the shockwave.

The impact also dazed her but she fought to clear her mind as quickly as possible. Cheri was unconcious due the surge of pain from losing her tail. She couldn't protect herself. Akemi pulled herself up out of the ground as quick as she could and then shook her head a little. Looking up toward where the guy had floated she saw him looking off another direction.

/Alright, now's your chance Akemi!/ she thought to herself. /You have to get it to work this time!/ She closed her eyes and concentrated. Pushing everything else and all other thoughts from her mind she focused only and completely on transforming. And then she felt the odd shifting and the building of power. A second later there was a flash of orange and she opened her eyes grinning.

She now had the orange stripes covering her forhead and arms, blue lightning like energy snapping around her silver Kinryoku enduced aura, solid yellow eyes, and purple hair. "Ha ha! I did it!" she cheered. "Alright, time to beat up the bad guy!" With that she surged up at Cheri's attacker again and once more slammed a fist into his jaw.

This time his head turned to the side from the blow but it still didn't give the results she'd wanted. It hadn't seemed to hurt him at all, just annoy him. "Uh... that's not good." she muttered, blinking.

"You are annoying." the man replied, turning his eyes to gaze at her.

Akemi quickly flew backwards so that he couldn't back hand her again. /He doesn't just look like Piccolo, he's strong like him too!/ she thought. /What do I..../ "AH!" she cried, quickly dodging to the right as he charged her. She soon realized she was too slow and he was too fast, though. There was no way she'd be able to avoid him.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus again, hoping to do another barrier like she'd used before, but before she'd even begun to try she heard a loud crack followed, a moment later, by an equally loud crash. Opening her eyes she saw Tien floating in front of her, transformed, and with a red aura pulsing around him.

"So, which one are you?" Tien called down as he crossed all four of his arms. "Slug or Sanil? You have to be one of them."

The Namek climbed back to his feet and glared up at his attacker. "That was a lucky shot." he replied, wiping a little blood off the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. "But don't think you'll get another." With that he clenched his hands into fists and let out a roar, a bright green aura flaring up around him as the ground shook.

And then he began to grow and his power to climb. Akemi's eyes widened as Slug reached twenty feet and kept growing. "Wow... he's as big as Cheri was...." she said in shock. Suddenly she blinked. Saying her friend's name reminded her that she was still passed out and she quickly flew down to land by the the girl and her mom. "Is she ok?" she asked, her silver aura fading as her hair turned silver again and she returned to normal.

Vadora nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. She's just in shock from losing her tail. She'll wake up soon."

Akemi nodded and then bent down and picked up the severed appendage. "Can it be put back on?" she asked.

Vadora smiled but shook her head. "No. And I don't think it'll grow back either, not with this kind of injury...."

"Awwww. She was fun to spar with when she was transfor...." She was cut off there as she gasped in surprise and fell over. Turning to look she saw the huge Namek's fist smashed into the ground and Tien floating a few feet away.

"Your power may have increased some but your speed is down." he said, cracking the knuckles on all four of his hands.

"Who are you? What are you?" the giant Namek asked as he pulled his hand back up out of the ground. "I'm far more powerful than I was while alive and yet we're almost even...."

Tien shrugged. "Just a warrior from Earth." he replied.

The Namek's eyes narrowed. "Earth? I didn't see you on Earth."

"Wasn't there at the time. I was here. But I heard all about you just the same." Suddenly he spun around and blocked a punch that had been aimed for the back of his head and then kicked the second Namek in the stomach. /Damn, both of them. Fighting just the big one would have been hard enough..../

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Vegeta shifted and turned slightly to look back the way they'd come as the Cyborg and Demon prepared to face off. "Damn." he muttered.

"What is it?" Raditz asked.

"A number of them have gotten behind us." he said. "They're heading for the palace and the city." Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he growled. "And Cold is leading them."

"Cold? Are you certain?" Nova asked, looking back. Vegeta nodded. "Then if it is alright with you I think I'll head back to deal with him myself."

"I'll help out." Krillin said walking over to them. "I can't do anything against Cold but I can handle the rest of them."

"Count me in, too." Yamcha said as he moved away from his wife and daughter. "I don't feel like standing around watching all the action."

"Agreed." Senator Vegeta said with a nod.

"I'm game." Sango added.

Raditz shrugged. "May as well."

Nova looked to each of them and then nodded. With that they set off after Cold and the forces with him. As they departed Piccolo sensed a pair of powers in the direction Tien had gone that caught his attention. Turning to look he spied the large Namek in the distance. "I think I'll take my leave as well." he said. "There's someone I want to talk to." and with that he shot off as well. 


	34. The Flow of War

Chapter Thirty-four - The Flow of War

The ground crunched and gave under their feet as the Sai-jins continued to add power to their attack. The clashing energies had stalemated now, only a few feet beyond their outstretched hands. "Amazing..." Kibito said softly as he watched the pair now begin to repel the attack the two Demons had generated.

"It has been a long time since I witnessed mortals with powers of this level." Mikomi agreed. "Not since the days before the weakening of the Tanarians."

Kibito glanced down at his fellow Kai for a moment. "They were well before my time." Kibito said as he turned back to the battle. The two Demons were now straining to force their attack down but the Sai-jins were forcing it away at increasing speed. "Were they really this powerful?"

Mikomi nodded slightly. "Some." she said. "At their peak during my time as Supreme Kai they had more elite and super elite warriors than they have population these days. There were a little over two thousand of them among those warriors who could have fought evenly against these two, nearly a thousand more who this pair would have had to work hard to defeat, and several hundred who could have defeated the both of them at once without effort. The strongest of them the day Buu came to their world, perhaps the strongest of their people to ever live, was even more powerful than Shin.

"The Tanarians were the strongest of the races. I am unclear as to why they had the power they did, so far beyond the other races of the universe, and though Muzai seemed to know he never explained it to us. But they never caused problems, never posed a threat, and so we left them be. I've come to think, following the events with Majin Buu, that perhaps they were the final Mortal check on evil in the universe, the final line between what was a Mortal afair and what was a matter for the Kais."

As she finished speaking the Demons finally gave up their attack and dodged to either side alowing it and the twin Kamehamehas to sail by them into the distance. They kept their eyes on the Sai-jins below them and scowled the entire time. Goku and Bardock took a moment to catch their breath and let the tension flow from them.

"This isn't possible..." Tenma said slowly. "How can a pair of MORTALS from Shinkai be stronger than US? We have been given power from Quietus himself that exceeds that of even the Grand Mazoku..." She raised her arms and gazed down at her hands as she clenched them into fists. "How is this... happening..."

"Pull yourself together!" Demona growled. "You're acting pathetic!"

"Well, she is pathetic." came a new voice. A soft and silky smooth voice. The two Demons turned to look behind them, those on the ground moving their gaze to look passed them, toward the source of the voice. It was a very Human looking individual with waist length white hair and red eyes wearing the same robes as the sisters.

Goku blinked and looked over to Bardock. "I can't tell... is that a guy or girl?" he asked softly.

Bardock shook his head. "Hell if I know." he answered, just as confused on the matter as his son.

"Maku!" the two Demons cried in unison.

Tenma swallowed. "Wh-what are you...?"

"I was sent to check on your progress. This world was supposed to under our control by now. I don't know about you two but I don't want to be here when the Supreme Kai shows up. Beyond that, Nefaria is still missing. She may be the weakest of the Supreme Mazoku but she is still more than we can handle."

/Nefaria?/ Mikomi wondered, furrowing her brow in thought. She knew all four Supreme Mazoku from her dealings with them when Quietus had first tried to usurp Makai. The weakest of them, then, and been Daikirai. Followed by Aku, Yokuatsu, and Neikan. /So then, one of the former Supreme Mazoku has been replaced in the last two thousand years./ she thought. /And the new one has sided with Dabura./

"Aren't you supposed to be locating Dabura?" Demona asked.

"Aku has come over to find him." Maku replied. "He was the one who sent me to check on you since you had not yet returned."

Mikomi's eyes widened. /Aku's in Shinkai, searching for Dabura!?/ she thought. /So he is still alive! We must find him as soon as possible, working together again is our only chance of stopping Quietus!/

Maku smirked and continued. "Having trouble with these Shinkai mortals? I told Lord Quietus that he was wasting his power on you. You're still as pathetic as ever."

"What was that!?" Tenma growled.

Maku smirked. "Truth hurts, doesn't it?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I mean, you can't even deal with a few weaklings. You're nothing but a waste of time and space."

Tenma's upper lip curled as she growled. Suddenly there was a flash of purple as she surged toward the other Demon. Her swing passed through thin air as Maku vanished and then re-appeared above her slamming a foot into her back. She was knocked toward the ground at high speed but managed to pull to a stop and charge back up before she hit.

Again Maku vanished, this time before she even got close. Tenma pulled to a stop quickly, ready for anything, but gasped in pain and shock as the other Demon appeared before her and slammed a knee into her stomach. Before she could recover or react an elbow slammed into the side of her head and she fell to the ground unconcious.

"Tenma!" Demona cried as she watched her sister fall until she hit the ground. Then she turned her gaze toward Maku once more. "Alright pretty boy, let's go!" she yelled charging in at him.

"Huh, I'd have guessed he was a she." Bardock said. "Either way though, he's good..."

Goku nodded. This new arrival could be a problem, assuming they ever stopped fighting themselves.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Galactic Games Arena

Hotaru had moved back from the main group now, carefully moving Sakura out of the way of the battle with help from Goten and Trunks. Sakura's injuries, while painful and unpleasnt to see, weren't life threatening. Which was good since Hotaru didn't have any means of healing her on hand and flying to a regen tank would take time. Turning from her injured daughter she directed her gaze toward the coming fight.

Elazeba bent her knees a little and then launched forward at Gainin. The Cyborg quickly slipped around her punch, blocked the follow-up elbow, and then slammed an open palm into the back of her head making her slam face first into the ground. She growled as she pushed off and flipped back onto her feet facing her opponent.

Again she launched in to attack and again Gainin avoided her punch, this time by ducking under it. And then his right arm shot out and his fist pounded into her stomach causing her to stumble back in pain. "Come on now, this can't be all you have." he said straightening up again. "I know you're holding back, you can't beat me doing that."

She growled as she held her stomach and glared at him. "Impossible... you don't have enough Ki for me to even sense it! You shouldn't even be able to see me move..." Suddenly she clenched her hands into fists and left out a yell as a blue aura flared up around her. Her power rose quickly before stopping just short of his.

As her power-up ended he noted her energy was still just as perfect as before. That meant she was still holding back. "That wont help." he said, taking a fighting stance. "If you want to beat me you'll have to stop holding back."

"Shut up!" she cried surging in.

Gainin smirked as he deflected the kick aimed for his head. The re-direct in momentum sent her off balance and he was able to slam both palms into her chest knocking her back. /Apparently I got to her./ he thought as he resumed his fighting stance. /Her power's increased but she's gotten sloppier. No... there's more to it than that.../

His thoughts trailed off as he leapt over a leg sweep and fliped over her to land behind her. Standing and turning quickly he blocked another attempted kick and then countered with a spinning back hand. Elazeba managed to just duck under it and then lunged forward intending to headbutt him in the chest.

Gainin backflipped away quickly, slamming his feet up into her jaw as he did. /That was close./ he thought as he landed on his feet again. /That horn could do some serious damage if she's allowed to stab me with it. Guess I'll just have to get rid of it!/ For the first time since the battle started the Cyborg went on the offensive and launched in at her.

Elazeba froze for a moment, shocked that her opponent had suddenly taken the offensive. That moment's hesitation was all he needed. Reaching her he slammed a foot into her stomach, grabbed her horn as she doubled over from the blow, and then flipped over her and used the horn to drag her through the air and then slam her down face first into the ground.

Still holding the horn with his right hand his left foot shot out and kicked her in the head, right at the horn's base. There was a loud crack and then he stood and quickly kicked her with his other foot knocking her away. "That's better." he said smiling as he tossed her broken horn up and down in one hand.

The Demon stood slowly, somewhat dissoriented by the unexpected assault, but her mind cleared as soon as she saw what he held. She reached up and felt where her horn should have been with one hand and found nothing. In an instant her enitre demeanor transformed. Her face contorted into a look of pure rage and hatred. "BASTARD!" she roared, surging in toward Gainin, her blue aura flaring up savagely as her power climbed once more.

By the time she reached him she'd finished her power-up. Her fist slammed into his face and sent the Cyborg sailing backwards quickly. The Demon shot off after him immediately and quickly over took him before slamming a foot into his back knocking him into the sky. Again she took off and passed him and then slammed a fist into his gut driving him down into the ground.

"I think she's mad." Mijima said, arching an eyebrow. "She's also stronger than I expected, stronger than Gainin or I, and she's still not maxed out."

"Can he still win?" Vegeta asked.

Mijima remained silent for a moment as she watched her brother get back to his feet and attempt to block a punch only to get kicked in the side. But the blow was a glancing one, he managed to avoid most of it and then counter with a punch of his own. "Yeah. He can still win." she replied as the Demon was knocked onto her back. "She can't fight properly she's so mad."

Gainin had to agree with his sister's assesment as he tossed aside the broken horn and shot in to attack again. The Demon had gotten even sloppier now but... there was more to it than that. /Her attacks are wild, out of control. It's like she can't.../ His eyes widened as he easily slipped around an energy blast and realization hit him. /She can't control her power proprerly, it's like she's not used to it./

He could remember how much trouble he and his sister had initially had learning to properly manage and control their power after Doctor Gero had settled on a design. Having made an increase in power of more than 1.5 million fold it took them a while to be able to do normal things again, let alone fight properly. He was seeing the exact same things in this Demon's fighting that he'd seen in his and his sister for the first week after getting their power.

Elazeba managed to slip around his first punch but his second caught her across the jaw and then his leg slammed into the back of her head causing her to stumble. Taking advantage of the opening he spun around and slammed his heel into her face knocking her toward the other Demons. She managed to pull to as stop only a few feet away from the lizard like one. "Damn it..." she growled. "How can he be this powerful when I can't even sense anything!?"

Gainin smirked. "Because my power is artificial." he said. "I don't fight with Ki." Instead of sliping back into his fighting stance he crossed his arms. "So, how strong where you yesterday?" he asked.

"Wha-what?" Elazeba stammered. The other Demons all glanced at each other while Angel ran an appraising eye over the Mortal. Her thoughts about him had been right. He was certainly unusual. A warrior that didn't utilize Ki for his power. And apparently he'd been able to discern from the battle that they were new to their strength.

"Well." Gainin began. "You're sloppy. Your attacks are wild, the force behind them varries randomly, and you're hesitant to go to your full power."

"What's he talking about?" Videl asked.

Mijima glanced over to her and then back out at the battle. She hadn't really noticed it herself, but she hadn't been the one on the recieving end of the attacks. "When Gainin and I first got our power we couldn't even begin to control it." she said. "We were stronger than your average Human before, but after... well, you know how strong we are now. Our powers increased over a million and a half times in what seemed to us to be only an instant.

"We went to sleep before the surgery maybe five or six times stronger than the average person and woke up an hour later as two of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. It takes time to adjust to that kind of an increase in power. Surely you've experienced it as well?" she asked, looking toward Videl again.

"I... yeah, I have." she said. "I was never that good at controlling my strength to begin with. But during the training for the Cell Games, after we started staying in Super Sai-jin, it became nearly impossible to do anything without breaking something. It took me almost a month to get back to the level of control I'd had before."

"Exactly." Gainin said, grinning. "And I can tell from the way she's fighting that she's the same. She's still coming to grips with her power. Which means it's realtively new."

"You're right." Angel said. "Just a few hours ago we weren't nearly this powerful. We Demons are to Makai what the Oni are for Shinkai. Largely assistants and paper pushers. But Lord Quietus wanted an army of powerful warriors and so he gave us our power. Power to rival the Mazoku!"

Vegeta snorted. "If this is all the stronger the rulers of this 'Makai' are then you've already lost."

Angel smirked. "Lord Quietus and the Supreme Mazoku surpass anything you could ever dream of, or hope to match."

"Enough talk!" Elazeba growled, her arua flaring up again as she powered up once more. This time, when her power stablized, it wasn't even and perfect and Gainin could tell she was at full power.

And her full power was going to be a problem.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ

Earth, South City, EDF Detention Center

Autoro scowled as he looked around the corner into the next hall. "Where the hell are they all coming from?" he muttered under his breath.

"More of them?" Ward asked. He was covering the way they'd come incase anyone came up from behind. Jairel and Gard were currently catching their breath between the two, worn from running and fighting so much the last twenty or thirty minutes.

"At least a dozen." Autoro replied.

"Why...don't...we...just...leave..." Gard panted.

Autoro frowned and looked back at him. "Because you bozos took my helmet." he replied. "I can't fight properly without it, I need the mind link control unit to manage most of the special functions of this arm." he patted his metal arm for emphasis. "It's your own fault for locking it up on the opposite side of the building."

"We're almost there." Ward said, glancing back at the others. "Just down that hall, third door on the left, do you see it?"

"Yeah, I see it." Autoro replied, looking down the hall again. "Man, what are these guys doing? They're just standing around staring at the walls."

"Maybe... they fell... asleep?" Jairel suggested, his breathing almost back to normal.

"Do Zombies even sleep?" Ward asked.

Autoro snorted. "Who knows, who cares. I should have enough energy to blast them all to dust though. Without the helmet I can't get a read on their power levels but these things have all been wimps so far."

"Easy for you to say." Gard said straightening up. "Jairel and I have done all the fighting."

Autoro grinned. "Exactly my point. You aint dead yet so these punks are wimps." He moved away from the wall and out into the hall. "Stand back, I'll deal with these ones." he said. As he stopped in the center of the hall he looked over the Zombies again but they weren't even moving in the slightest.

He was just about to bring his arm up to fire off an attack when the building suddenly shuddered under the force of an explosion from outside and the Zombies all toppled over onto the ground. "The hell?" Autoro wondered, staring at them. "They're all... dead."

"That's what a Zombie is." Jairel piped up.

"I know what a Zombie is!" Autoro yelled back. "But I mean these ones aint moving. There's no one home. Whatever brought them back must have left or something."

Ward made his way over to one of them carefully, just incase it was faking or something, but got no reaction from it. "I don't think it's... dead." he said, unable to find a better word. "The eyes are still moving a little. Maybe they're dazed or something?"

"Who cares, let's just go!" Jairel said as he hurried down the hall to the door leading into the evidence locker. He punched in the access code quickly and the door slid open. A glance around inside showed the room was empty and he rushed in, grabbed the helmet Autoro had been wearing when brought in, and came back out. "Here." he called, tossing it to the man.

Autoro grinned as he quickly pulled it out of the bag it was in. He took a look over the damage it had received during his capture but it looked largely superficial. Hopefully it was. He donned it quickly and fastened it in place. A moment later the visor lit up as the helmet came to life.

MIND LINK SYSTEM... OK. NOW ENGAGING MIND LINK... MIND LINK NOW ACTIVE. RUNNING SELF-DIAGNOSTIC SCAN. PRIMARY POWER CORE... OK. SECONDARY POWER CORE... OK. ENERGY CELL 1... OK. ENERGY CELL 2... OK. ENERGY CELL 3... OK. ENERGY CELL 4... OK. ENERGY ABSORPTION SYSTEM... OK. KI SCANNER... OK. TARGETING SYSTEM... OK. POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM... OK. NOW BRINGING PRIMARY POWER CORE TO MAXIMUM OUTPUT... MAXIMUM OUTPUT OBTAINED. TOTAL AVAILABLE POWER... 494,203. ALL SYSTEMS CLEAR. OPERATIONAL STATUS: GOLD.

"Alright, time to kick some Zombie ass." Autoro grinned from within the helmet.


	35. Namekian Showdown

Chapter Thirty-five - Namekian Showdown

Vadora growled to herself as she watched Tien just block an attack from a second, weaker, Namek. "You must be Slug." he said as he pulled away from the smaller Namek. The more aged appearance being his clue as to which was which.

"What do we do?" Akemi asked, looking up at Vadora.

The Sai-jin shook her head. "There isn't anything we ca..." she stopped as she felt a power approaching quickly. An instant later there was a burst of green as Piccolo arrived, cape billowing out behind him.

"I thought that was you two I sensed." he said, getting the attention of the pair of Nameks. "It's been a while, old friend."

Slug blinked as he looked at Piccolo. "Your energy is changed." he said after a moment. "You've merged with that other Namek, the half of Zildar that I spoke with on Earth."

Piccolo gave a slight nod. "I have." he replied. "Now I am neither Zildar or his son, but something more. And we have things we must... discuss." Piccolo floated down until he was level with Slug and Tien and kept his eyes on the two Nameks to make sure they didn't try to take advantage of the Human's lowered defenses.

"I remember... everything. Everything my father knew. I remember Frigid attacking our world and Razor stepping in to 'help' us. I find it hard to believe that his intervention and your subsequent stint gathering resources from various planets are unrelated. Especially considering the circumstances at hand."

Slug smirked. "And what circumstances would those be?"

"Raven." Piccolo replied simply. He noted the shocked looks on the two's faces and smirked. "So, I was right. She was involved in the awakening of our powers. What's their game? What are they up to? Who is her mate?"

Slug's shocked expression cleared and he started laughing. "Why should I tell?" he asked.

Piccolo shrugged. "A simple gesture to an old friend." he replied. "Besides, what's it hurt to talk now? They got you killed, didn't they? Sending you to Earth...."

"We weren't sent to Earth." Sanil said barely above a whisper so as to not deafen them with his booming voice. "We were told to stay clear of the planet, that it was off limits."

"But I've never been good at taking or following orders." Slug added. "So when it turned up that Earth was the closest world to us at the time we decided to see what their interest in the planet was. If they'd clued us in a little more to the facts we never would have gone there. We knew the details we needed to know, we just hadn't drawn the connection ourselves until it was too late."

Piccolo scowled. /So, these two weren't a part of the plan, then?/ he wondered. /Hmmm, perhaps they assumed the warning from Trunks and Sakura was enough for Bardock, Gohan, and myself to be prepared by the time the Androids arrived?/ He decided he needed to confirm what was their doing and what was merely speculation on his part. "What about Recoome's attack on Tanaria? Or Cooler coming here?"

Slug shrugged. "I know Recoome works for them." he said. "The entire Ginyu force, minus Guldo, is under their employ. We had an encounter with them once that only avoided coming to blows by their intervention. Though I can't say as to if Recoome was sent to Tanaria or not. And as far as I know there was nothing more than a standing agreement between them and Cooler stating they would offer him any aid he requested. If he ever took them up on it I never heard of it."

The Namek scowled more. The answers weren't answering as much as he'd hoped. And they were presenting new questions. Something in the way Slug phrased his response.... "What do you mean 'works' for them?" he asked. "Recoome is dead, again. So is Ginyu."

Slug laughed again. "Do you really think the deaths of their soldiers is something they hadn't expected? That they hadn't planned for? Just because we've died doesn't mean we're no longer working for them."

Piccolo's eyes widened and he swallowed. "Then... this...."

"Exactly!" Slug declared, laughing even more. "Even in death we work toward their goals. All of those who work for them are given assignments to carry out after death. It was we who moved the Blood Crystal from the H.F.I.L. down into Hell. We who crossed the Realms into Makai to recruit Demons loyal to Quietus to aid us in our goals. And it was Razor who supplied us with the magic needed to release the Blood Crystal and free Quietus from his prison.

"This is just the next phase of their plan. The raising of an army of unparalleled size and power. The might of an entire Realm at their disposal! They've got everything planned out already, the entire thing orchestrated from day one into perfect perfection. The ultimate unbeatable plan."

Piccolo shook his head. "Plans are never unbeatble, never infallible. Conditions can not be so easily controlled and managed. The fact that you were killed on Earth is proof enough that even they can make mistakes."

"Perhaps." Slug replied. "But errors on an individual level such as the one I made do not effect the overall outcome. In fact, they've already anticipated them which is why we're all given post-death missions. They've got a hundred contingency plans in place per member of their army. If anything goes in an unexpected way they simply alter the effected portion of their plan until it all lines up again."

Piccolo scowled again. Bassed on what, admittedly little, he knew about Raven and her plans what Slug said made sense. He didn't like it one bit, though. They weren't just a few steps behind these people, they were miles behind. The current situation was obvious proof of that. "So, I take it you're not interested in changing sides?" he asked at last.

Slug smirked, clenched his fists, and then left out a yell as he began to grow bigger. A moment later he was as large as Sanil, though not as powerful. "Zildar may have been stronger than me before but you're no match for me now!" Slug rumbled.

Piccolo smirked as his green aura burst to life around him. He hunched over, clenched his hands into fists, and left out a yell as his power climbed. It only took a moment to reach and match the other two Nameks and it kept right on going. When his power-up finally came to and end he was more than three times stronger than either of them. "You were saying?" he asked.

"How... how is that... possible?" Slug asked, wide eyed. "How could your power have increased this much!?"

"When I was on Namek before, just prior to Frieza's arrival there, I merged with another Namek by the name of Nail. The strongest Namekian warrior on the planet and one that had greatly surpassed our previous unenhanced strength. I then had my hidden powers awoken by the planet's Guardian. That was the power you fought on Earth." Piccolo explained.

"That was followed by three years of intense training, my merge with Kami which awakened Zildar's power, of which I'd previously only had access to a small fraction of, and then followed up with two more years of intensive training under special conditions. The last seven years I haven't been as serious with my training as I had been during those five but I've kept up a pace that would have put the two of us to shame back on Namek."

Sanil looked over to Slug. "Father."

Slug's eyes narrowed and then he nodded slowly as he turned to face Sanil. Piccolo's eyes narrowed as he wondered what they were up to and then snapped wide in shock and worry as he saw Slug place his hand on Sanil's chest.

"Damnit!" he cried surging in, but it was too little too late. An instant after he began moving Slug's voice bellowed out over the terrain as his arua flared up massively around him like a green sun. "This is not good...." Piccolo growled as he drifted back. "Not good at all."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City Outskirts

"There's the city." Raditz said as their group flew. They'd encountered a few pockets of battle along the way, where the planet's soldiers intercepted some of the attackers heading for the city, but had largely ignored those. Defense of the city itself was more important. There were a lot of civilians in the city, people who'd come to watch the tournament. Nova glanced around at the size of the city. Even from this distance she could tell it was large.

"We should split up." Sango said. "It'll be faster that way, the attacking forces are spreading out through the whole city."

"I don't have any way of locating Cold." said Nova. "Other than simply searching the streets and that would take too long."

"I'm not sensing any powers that are beyond us other than Cold." Yamcha said as his eyes scanned back and forth along the edge of the quickly nearing city. "A few higher than Sango but other than Cold none of them are as high as Krillin or I. We could have someone go with you to help you find Cold while the rest of us split up."

Senator Vegeta nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me." he said. "And as much as I'd like to be there to see Cold sent back where he belongs I think it should be Raditz that goes." He glanced over to the other Sai-jin as he spoke. "Like the rest of your family you're stronger than I am, and stronger than Cold is."

"Right." Raditz nodded.

"That's fine with me, I just want to be the one to deal with him." Nova said. "We have a few things to settle."

"Oh, hey." Krillin started. "Nova, what about your ship? The soldiers on it?"

The Changeling glanced over to him for a moment before turning her gaze forward again. "In all the commotion I had forgotten that they were out there still." she said. "Adding them to our forces could be helpful though I'm worried that not everyone would recognize them as allies.... I suppose, though, that it's a chance that we'll have to take."

"Here." Vegeta said, holding out a communicator.

Nova gave him a nod as she took it and put it on. Activiting it she then adjusted the settings to patch in with her ship's communications. "This is Queen Nova, do you read?"

"This is Hydra." came the voice of her long time friend and ally. "It's good to hear from you, we were getting worried."

"There's plenty to worry about." Nova replied. "Are you still in silent mode?"

"Yes ma'am." Hydra responded, concern in her voice. "What's going on? Has something happened?"

Nova remained silent for a moment as she considered how to best explain what was unfolding around them. "Complete chaos." she said at last. "I don't quite understand what's happening myself but... a war of sorts has broken out."

"A... war?"

"Yes. This world is currently under seige by the dead and by Demons.... I want my Elites down here to support the Sai-jin's forces. Don't worry, the Sai-jins already know about me, but don't expect everyone down here to consider you allies."

"If it's really that bad are you sure just the elites are enough?"

"This is out of the league of anyone but the elites." Nova replied. "You'll understand once you've put the ship in active mode again and are able to scan the planet for power levels." She paused as they crossed the city limits and started flying over buildings. "I'll contact you again when I have the chance, just get the elites to Saiya City." And with that she shut off the communicator and handed it back to Vegeta.

"Alright, split up!" he ordred has he returned the device to his ear. In a flash the six of them divided into five groups and spread out through the city.

Nova pulled to a stop as she saw Raditz do the same. Turning to look she saw him gazing off into the distance, eyes wide. "What is it?" she asked, turning to look the way he was as well. Just over the horizion she could see bright green light.

"I'm not sure." he replied. "There's a huge power flaring up right on top of Piccolo...." He shook his head. "We'll worry about it later, right now we have a city to defend."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Tien held his arms up over his face to shield himself and turned away from the churning power before him. The cries of the two Nameks had fadded away into the roar of the energy and their power was still growing quickly. "This is impossible...." Vadora breathed as the light flared even larger and brighter.

The sphere of green light began to swirl around at increasing speed as it started to shrink. The ground under the outwashing energy ripped apart and a crater formed as the backwash of power intensified. Once it was at half its former size a shadowy form became visible. And then in a burst of green the light vanished leaving behind a single normal sized Namek. Slug. Young once more thanks to the fusion.

Slug began laughing as he clenched and unclenched his fists. "This is incredible! Even more power than I had imagined!" he cried.

Meanwhile Piccolo was cursing under his breath. Things could have been worse, much worse, but that didn't mean they weren't bad just the same. The new Slug outclassed him in power by more than enough to be a serious problem. He quickly reached up and pulled off his cape and turban, tossing them aside as he contemplated battle plans. But the only tactics he could think of that would enable a win involved charging one of his more powerful attacks.

Somehow, he doubted Slug would just stand by and wait for it. He needed some means of distracting or stalling the Namek long enough to attempt an attack. He cast a quick glance around at his available aid. Tien, Vadora, Akemi, and the now stirring Cheri. /Damn. The only one that could likely be of help would be Tien, but it'd likely kill him in the process./ the Namek though sourly.

His attention was drawn back to Slug as the Namek suddenly fired off a blast of energy. Piccolo moved quickly and prepared to deflect it but never got the chance. A streak of green appeared before him and then the ball of yellow green energy vanished. Absorbed by Eskarga. "I believe this belongs to you!" he said, before firing off an attack of equal power to the one Slug had launched.

"Thought you could use a little help." Eskarga said, glancing back, as Slug easily deflected the attack. He drifted back a little so that he was beside Piccolo and then spoke softly so that only the one Namek could hear him. "If you can draw his attention I can get behind him and siphon off some of his energy, bring him down to a more managable level." he said.

"But I can only increase my power up to one hundred times it's normal level at any given time. Once I reach that level I can't absorb anymore until I burn off what I've already got. So it'll take at least four tries to get him down to something more your level, five tries to really even things out."

Piccolo smirked. "If you think you can do it then I can keep him busy."

Eskarga nodded and then shot off to the left. Slug's eyes started to follow him but then quickly redirected to Piccolo as the powerful Namek charged him. Piccolo lashed out with a hard left for Slug's head but the other blocked it easily and countered with a punch aimed toward Piccolo's stomach. He just barely slipped around that and then slammed a fist into the other's chest to very little effect.

"Heh heh heh, that tickles." Slug said, smirking. "Though I must admit, fighting you like this sure does bring back memories."

Piccolo snorted and then thrust an arm out and fired a blast of energy into Slug's face before shooting backward quickly and placing two fingers to his forehead, energy sparking at their tips. The blast to Slug's face temporarily blinded him and when his vision cleared again Piccolo was already thirty yards away.

"You don't really think I'll give you the opportunity to use my own attack against me, do you?" Slug asked as he prepared to give chase. But he stopped as a hand suddenly grabbed him by wrist and an odd sensation came over him. He looked down at his wrist and found a green hand which he followed back along an extended green arm to the other Namek from a moment before. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled, giving his arm a jerk.

The motion pulled the other Namek in toward him quickly. He wasn't nearly strong enough to be a threat, even though his power was increasing.... /Wait, what is this... my energy... it's... dropping?/ Slug wondered as the other Namek continued to near. /No, not dropping... it's leaving... but, how?/

His eyes widened as he realized the other Namek's power was increasing at the same rate his was dropping. /He's stealing it somehow! Well, I'll just have to..../ his train of the thought ended there as a voice called out from behind him.

"Special Beam Cannon!"

Slug spun around and saw the spiriling beam of energy surging right for his head. He also realized quickly that while he'd been distracted by the other Namek Piccolo had moved in close again. The short distance and the speed of the attack meant that he barely had time to dodge.

As Eskarga pulled back from the battle again, his absorption limit reached, and Slug just avoided being hit from the incoming attack, Piccolo began firing off a volley of energy blasts. The Special Beam Cannon had just been a decoy, a stalling tactic. He'd barely put any power behind it and he'd never expected it to do damage, even if it had hit. As Slug turned from the dodged attack he found himself surrounded by balls of golden energy with more of them still coming. "You try whatever you like." Slug said with a smirk. "But there's no way you can beat me!"

Piccolo snorted. "We'll see about that!" he called, bringing his hands together and causing the energy spheres to surge in at the Namek. Slug quickly thrust his arms out as the energy neared. An instant later the attacks began exploding and lighting up the sky, the loud bangs thundering across the open plain and shaking the ground below. 


	36. Defense of the City

A/N: Oh... my... god. IT'S AN UPDATE! Hah. Rejoice, for now you shall be blessed with THREE new chapters! Yay!

Chapter Thirty-six - Defense of the City

"This way!" Bulma called to the crowd of people, motioning them down the street toward a near-by theater. Chaotzu was floating near the theater doors holding them open with telekinesis and keeping a look out for approaching Zombies. The crowd of civilians, largely alien but with some Sai-jins among them, hurried as they followed the purple haired woman's guidance.

Bulma hadn't been able to just sit back and do nothing during the current crisis. Her husband, son, and friends were heading off the bulk of the threat but there were still thousands upon thousands of Zombies flooding into the city so she'd quickly enlisted the help of those she could find in the palace to see to the safety of those in the city.

This was the fifth group they'd guided through the city streets to some sort of shelter. Saiya City had a normal resident population of around twenty million people. With all the Sennari business and the Galactic Games that number had increased to almost fifty million. Nearly seventy percent of those in the city were not fighters. And of those that were at least half weren't strong enough to combat the Zombies.

That meant there were around seventeen and a half million people in the city that needed protected. She'd been going around with Chaotzu, Roshi, Toma, Tangerie, Mango, Akira, Aiko, Kavar, Yuki, Kazuki, and Dubibub seeing to those people. They were finding the little pockets of them where they hid and guiding them to more securable locations. Mango had been left to guard the first group they'd gathered while Akira had been left to guard the second. Kavar was watching over the third and Aiko stood watch over the fourth.

"Who are we going to leave to guard this group?" Chaotzu asked as the people began to pour in to the theater. There were almost a thousand people in the current group and the theater was only designed to hold four hundred. They'd all fit but it'd be cramped. Still, it was better than leaving them in the streets.

"I'll take this one." Dubibub said. "My worry is the next group and the group after that. We're starting to run out of guards and there's still a lot of people out there."

"I know." Bulma said as her eyes scanned the area for any signs of attackers. "Roshi and I can barely deal with the weaker Zombies... even Chaotzu's out matched by the stronger ones. That means Yuki, Kazuki, Toma, and Tangerie are the only ones left to be guards but we'll need to keep one of them with us for protection too."

"So only three more groups." Tangerie said as she landed behind Bulma. She'd been scouting the area for another defensible location to take refugees to. "I'd feel better if you left Toma stay with you." she said, glancing at Bulma. "I'd rather have a Sai-jin guarding you then someone else and he's stronger than I am."

Bulma frowned a little. She'd been dealing with Toma, Tangerie, and Mango's complaints ever since she started organizing the rescue mission. The three Sai-jins had been adamantly opposed to her going into the city. It had taken a show of force and pulling of rank to get them to stop complaining, though all three had continued to voice their concerns and dislike of the situation at any available chance.

She'd only convinced Mango to remain behind at the first post because she still had everyone else with her to keep her safe. Toma and Tangerie had both since resisted being posted as guards as they were the last two Sai-jins in the group and weren't willing to leave the Queen's protection up to others. She couldn't entirely fault the three of them though, especially not Mango or Tangerie, as they weren't doing it entirely out of duty but because they were all friends.

Still, that didn't stop it from being annoying. "You can deal with any of the Zombies we come across." Bulma said.

"We don't know what else might be out there." Tangerie replied. "It's better to leave you with a stronger guard."

"Then I can stay with her and someone else can take this post." Dubibub said. "I am the strongest of us left in the group."

Before Tangerie was able to voice her opinion on the matter a cascade of screams started from the far end of the group of refugees. Instantly she and Dubibub took off to check on the commotion. A few blasts of energy and explosions told Bulma all she needed to know. A group of Zombies had found them.

Suddenly Tangerie was charging back toward her position carrying Roshi, who'd been left to guard their rear and keep watch for attack. The old master was unconscious. "We have a problem." she said, setting Roshi down. "Something worse than Zombies have found us. Dubibub and I took out a few of them but the three left are giving him a hard time."

"What?" Bulma asked, shocked.

"What do we do?" asked Chaotzu. "Where are Kazuki and Yuki?"

"Still scouting around." the Sai-jin replied. "They'll return once they notice the battle, but that could be a few minutes yet."

"So, we're on our own for now...." Bulma started. But she was cut off as the crowd scattered wildly in fear and panic. Dubibub and just been knocked into the building beside the theater taking out the rear protection the group had had.

The rubble shifted and fell as Dubibub climbed back out of the damaged building into the quickly emptying streets. "Alright, whoever sucker punched me is going down." he said, wiping a trickle of blood off his chin.

"Heh heh heh." a voice laughed from behind the thinning crowd. "Highly unlikely."

The voice sounded familiar and then Tangerie's eyes widened in shock as the crowd separated enough to reveal its source. "Yang!?" she cried. "But... you... you died on Earth!"

Yang smirked. "And now I have been revived by the great power of Quietus, new ruler of everything!" he declared, raising his arms and clenching his hands into fists. "And stronger than I was while alive as well, I might add, also thanks to Quietus."

"You know him?" Bulma asked.

Tangerie nodded. "He worked at the palace once, back before the incident with Nappa. In fact, he left with Zarbon that day. He was one of the ones that went with Zarbon to Earth." As she spoke she reached up and activated her scouter. She'd had it set to handle other data and not alert her to powers but now she adjusted it to read the power of the formerly dead alien before her.

The scouter started beeping wildly as it locked on to the near-by powers. In an instant it had locked on to seven powers and was quickly scanning their levels. One of the seven was Dubibub and she ignored that. Five of them were nearing their location and ranged from around 34,000 to over 100,000. And Yang's power was.... "61,233!?" She cried in shock. That was more than double what he'd been last she heard!

"There you are." came another voice from above and behind Yang. Those on the ground looked up and saw the other five powers Tangerie's scouter had locked onto. The one that had spoken was the strongest of them at 102,419 and was as easily unmistakable.

It wasn't just Tangerie that knew him. Bulma and Chaotzu did as well and it was the Human woman that spoke up first. "Z-Zarbon!" she cried in shock.

Zarbon turned his gaze from Yang to the others. "Interesting find you've made, Yang." he said, tilting his head a little. "Odd little gathering, isn't it?"

Tangerie moved quickly to stand between Bulma and the new arrivals. She knew it was a futile action, there was no way she could block an attack from any of them, especially not Zarbon, but she had to do what she could to protect the woman. "Why are you here?" she demanded, her eyes roaming over the others.

She found she knew all of them, Kui, Kuwa, Vashon, and Dodoria. Zarbon's attack force from the battle on Earth. /Damn it, even if Mango were here this would be a pointless battle./ she thought. /Even without transforming Zarbon's got her outmatched. I guess Yang wasn't kidding about them getting a power boost./

"I think she means to fight us." Vashon said, laughing.

"I find it interesting she's being so defensive of the other woman." Yang said. "You don't get a Sai-jin guarding someone so much weaker than them very often. She has to be someone of importance somewhere."

Tangerie blinked and looked back at Bulma. Both of them were wondering why the two didn't know about Bulma. They may have all died before she even came to Planet Vegeta but surely they'd gained information of events following their deaths since then. She was about to turn back to their attackers when her scouter went off as it found a new power approaching. The numbers climbed quickly finally settling at 124,934. The Sai-jin started to grin as soon as she saw the reading. She recognized the level down to the last digit.

"I think she's lost it." Kui laughed. "Her fear has driven her insane."

Suddenly there was a flash of red above and behind Bulma and then a click as someone landed beside Tangerie. "You have excellent timing, Sango." the Sai-jin said.

"Thought you could use some help." the Tanarian replied, looking toward the other woman. "The others are taking care of the rest of these idiots." She then turned her focus back to the formerly dead aliens. "You should have just left and made the most of your new lives when you had the chance."

Dodoria laughed. "You think you can beat us?"

Sango smirked and then vanished. There was a series of loud cracks as she took out the would be attackers one by one. In less than two seconds only Dodoria and Zarbon were still standing and Sango was standing behind the wide alien, her back to his. "No." she said, startling him. "I know I can."

Dodoria started to turn but Sango's elbow shot back and slammed into his neck snapping it. The alien fell forward and hit the ground with a thud. The Tanarian turned to face her last remaining opponent. "Well, I guess that just leaves you."

Zarbon growled. "You may have beaten them but you can't beat me!" he cried launching in. She slipped around his punch with ease and then slammed her knee into his stomach causing him to double over in pain. Before he had a chance to react her open palm slammed into the back of his head knocking him into the ground.

She was about to finish up with her final blow when a burst of energy caused her to stumble back. When she got her footing again she saw a fist heading for her face. Unable to dodge in time she was hit hard and sent back into a building. /What the hell?/ she wondered as she pulled herself free. Climbing to her feet she saw that Zarbon's appearance had changed considerably. /So, that's it, a transformation./

Sango smiled. "That wont save you."

Zarbon laughed. "You can't handle my full power! You can act tough all you want but I can tell from that little exchange that you're no match for me."

"Funny, I was about to say the exact same thing to you." Sango replied, brushing a little dust off her shoulder. "You want a battle of full power against full power? Alright then, let's go. Itsutsu Kinryoku!" In a burst and flash of silver Sango surged in and slammed an energy incased fist into Zarbon's stomach. Suddenly there was a bright flash of red as she released an energy blast through his stomach. "Looks like you lose."

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Orange Drive

"Payback time! Nibai Kinryoku!" Krillin called as he charged toward a group that was about to attack Mango. The Human recognized three of the five attackers. Kamandur, the lackey of Slug's that had batted him around on Earth, and Jeice and Burter, two of the Ginyu Force he'd met on Namek.

"Pinda, Omta, move it!" Jeice called as he barely slipped around the charging warrior.

"The shrimp's gotten better since Namek." Burter said as he watched Krillin turn around and come toward them again. "But not good enough!" The tall blue alien charged in at Krillin and the Human barely avoided a kick to the face. "Get back here!" Burter cried chasing after him.

"Heh heh, that's right, just follow me." Krillin said softly as he glanced back behind him. He clenched his hands into fists and began gathering energy quickly. Once he had enough he pulled to a stop and turned around raising an arm above his head. Quickly the energy gathered together and flattened into a spinning disc. "Destructo Disc!" he called pitching it forward.

As soon as the first was off he fired off another and then another and another. In seconds five discs were arcing through the air, one for each target. Burter saw his coming and swerved to the left but the disc followed and, a second later, sliced through him. The other four didn't even see them coming, they'd turned their attention back to Mango and the building she was guarding.

Krillin landed beside her a second later as she was wiping blood off of her armor. "Thanks shorty." she said.

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Lemon Lane

"YUKI!" Kazuki cried as he surged down toward his falling sister. Smoke drifted up from her body as charred fabric broke from her Gi. She'd managed to block the attack her opponent had launched but it had been way too strong for her to defend against. If it hadn't been for her barrier she would have been completely incinerated. Even with it he wasn't entirely sure she had survived.

He was still dozens of feet away and she was almost on the ground when a streak of silver surged through and scooped her up. He pulled to a stop and looked around finally spotting Yamcha laying Yuki down behind him. He descended quickly and landed beside her. "How is she?"

Yamcha shook his head. "She's alive but...." he sighed. "Just barely. We need to get her to a Regen Tank or she wont make it."

"Good." a voice said from above them. Yamcha turned and scowled up at the woman. Erzix. One of the ones who'd attacked Tanaria with Recoome. "Payback for the last time. Those silver haired brats all look the same to me so I don't know if she's one of the ones directly responsible for my death but it doesn't matter. My goal in life is to see every last one of them dead."

"Over my dead body." Yamcha said, standing up.

Erzix smirked. "If you insist." she said, charging down at them.

"Itsutsu Kinryoku!" Yamcha cried as he launched up at her. Erzix's eyes widened at the other's speed and she tried to dodge to the side but Yamcha reached her first and slammed a fist into her face with a loud crack. She was knocked up higher into the air for a few hundred feet and then plummeted to the streets below. She was dead before she hit the ground.

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Pea Avenue

"That's Cold, but who's he with?" Raditz asked as he and Nova neared their destination. "I've never seen any of them before."

"Nor have I." Nova replied.

As they neared they began to overhear Cold speaking. "Honestly, where did that woman go?" he said, crossing his arms. "She sees one of those Tanarians and suddenly she takes off. Wyver, you know her...."

"Bad experiences with the Tanarians." the alien answered. "Probably wants revenge."

"I say she's an idiot." said an orange skinned guy with wings. "There's some pretty nasty powers out there, I wouldn't want to run into them alone, that's for sure."

"Quit being such a coward, Doro." said the last member of the group.

"Shut it, Angira." the alien retorted. "The kid that beat Sanil's around here somewhere. I, for one, don't want to meet him without protection. And chasing after Tanarians? That's a death wish if I ever heard of one, you know what that one girl did to Frieza."

"That was a fluke." Cold interrupted.

"No, that was just her and Trunks kicking your ass." Raditz said, smirking, from just a few feet behind the group.

The four spun around quickly in shock. Cold's shock only grew when he spotted Nova beside Raditz. "Another Changeling? Here?" he wondered aloud.

"It's been a long time, Cold." Nova said, crossing her arms. She was trying to put on an act of confidence but there was a growing knot in the pit of her stomach. She knew the power she'd gained from that fruit, power she'd learned was likely permanent, put her over the former Changeling King. But spending nearly two hundred years much weaker than him and living in fear of him and his learning of her ancestry was trying to override her logic.

"Oh, do we know each other?" Cold asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One hundred and seventeen years ago you caught one of the palace slaves trying to sabotage your ship." Nova said. "A friend of mine by the name of Myst."

Cold gave the Changeling before him a once over with his eyes as he thought back to that incident. As his vision settled on her horns recognition dawned on him. "Ah, you were the one that made the outburst." he said nodding. "I must say, I was rather impressed, you never screamed once."

Nova scowled and then smiled softly. "Then I must apologize for doing so now." she said before uncrossing her arms, hunching over, and the letting out a yell as she began to power-up and transform. In a matter of moments she'd finished her transformation and reached her full power.

Cold smirked. "You intend to fight me?" he laughed. "Did that beating I gave you knock a few screws loose?"

"No. I don't intend to fight you." Nova said. "I intend to kill you. Once and for all. And put an end to the suffering your branch of our family has caused."

The other Changeling blinked in confusion. "What do you mean 'our family'?"

Nova smirked, all the worry and fear flowing from her body as knowledge that it was all about to finally be over filled her in its place. "Our family lines are related. To each other and to Frost and Tundra. But I don't feel like explaining it all to you, ask Kuriiza when next you see him in the afterlife. He can explain it."

Cold snorted. "I wont be dying anytime soon. Even if what you say has any truth to it, if you had the power to defeat me you'd have tried long ago."

"I didn't get the power until recently. But, if you think I'm bluffing, then go ahead and try me."

"Very well, this ends now!" Cold called, surging in at her.

"Agreed." Nova responded. "Invalesco!" The multi-colored fire like aura exploded around her in an instant, her power sky rocketed, and then she caught Cold's punch with ease. Spinning around she tossed him up into the air and then thrust an arm up and fired a wave of energy after him that engulfed and incinerated him.

"See?" Doro growled, crossing his arms. "This is why I wanted to stay in Otherworld."

Outer space, Just Outside the Vegeta System

Hydra sat in the command chair watching as the various bridge systems came on-line one by one. She'd just finished speaking with Nova and they were now powering up the computers and switching into active mode. What Nova had said was gnawing at her curiosity. Things sounded bad and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know how bad.

Especially if only their elites would be of any help in this fight.

The fifteen elites on the ship ranged in power from one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand. The strongest Changelings left, aside from Queen Nova herself. The next strongest on the ship was sixty four thousand. The bulk of those on the ship were in the twenty to forty thousand range.

A loud whirring filled the room as the monitors came to life and the scouter systems began to scan Planet Vegeta. Almost immediately the warning klaxon's began to sound, a pre-programmed response when large numbers of high powers were detected on a target world. "Turn that off and get me the power readings!" Hydra called.

A moment later the klaxon's shut down and the main screen began to give a report on the powers present on Planet Vegeta. Hydra blinked as she read through it. That was... impossible. There were... over a hundred million powers in the seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand range. There were a number of powers beyond the hundred thousand mark and, as she watched, two flared up that surpassed the one million mark.

There were also multiple listings of 'exceeds limits' meaning the powers were too high for the system to scan and process. Which meant greater than eight million. "What is going on down there...." Hydra wondered.

"Ma'am, should we launch the Elites?" someone asked.

"I... yes, send them down." Hydra responded. "And get me a lock on the Queen!"

"Right away."

Hydra sat in silence as she watched the numbers on screen filter away and then an indicator appeared marking Nova's location on the distant planet and her power, which was currently growing. It had just surpassed the two million mark and was still growing. When it hit three million Hydra couldn't believe her eyes.

She knew her friend's maximum power. It was only a little beyond two and a half million. And yet, now, it was over five million and still climbing. She knew that the Invalesco could boost Nova's power but that increase was sudden, this was slow and building, like a normal power-up. As the number vanished, replaced by the words 'exceeds limits' she spoke softly, barely over a whisper, repeating her earlier question. "What is going on down there?" 


	37. The Power of Shinkai

Chapter Thirty-seven - The Power of Shinkai

Gainin pushed off with his left hand and spun around as he moved through the air. A half second later a blast of red energy impacted and exploded in the space he'd just occupied. In the sixty seconds since Elazeba had maxed out her power he'd not managed to land, or even launch, a single attack. His entire effort had been devoted to dodging. She was new to her power, her skill with it was lacking, but she was high enough above him that it was still problematic.

Though he wasn't about to complain about the situation. If it weren't for her lack of control the battle would have already ended. As it was he'd had a few close calls already. And as his feet touched the ground he back flipped quickly allowing a blast of red energy to sail by him only inches away. /That one was a little too close for comfort./ he thought, springing off his hands and back on to his feet.

He leapt into the air over a kick and surged skyward. The Demon wasn't about to give him time to relax, however, and surged up after him. She was nearly on him when she came to a halt and all attentions, hers, his, and those watching, were diverted another direction, the way Piccolo had gone. Gainin's own sensors had detected the power spike that the others had sensed. Piccolo had just powered up.

"But that's... not possible...." Elazeba said as she stared off toward the distant Nameks. None of them had noticed it earlier but now there were two giant Nameks standing where the Oozaru Cheri had once been. And then bright green light flared up and where there had been two energies a new power began to build quickly.

"Namekian fusion." Vegeta said, scowling a little. "I take it that's Slug and Sanil?"

"Yeah, that's them." Gohan said. "Maybe Videl or I should go check it out...."

Hotaru shook her head. "Piccolo's on his own for now." she said. "These five are more pressing."

"The Tanarian is right." Vegeta added. "Gainin, let's make this quick."

The Cyborg glanced back at the Sai-jin and nodded, then turned and gave a nod to his sister. "Lend me a hand?" he asked. Mijima smirked and then vanished. A loud crack sounded an instant later as she appeared in front of the Demon Gainin had been fighting and slammed her heel down into the top of her head.

As the Demon crashed into the ground below the twins they floated down and landed a few dozen feet away, back to back. Mijima raised her right arm and Gainin his left, their palms side by side. The grass beneath their feet bent as though in a breeze, their clothes and hair flapped, and red and blue energy began to gather before their out stretched arms. The energy swirled and merged forming a purple sphere.

Elazeba climbed to her feet slowly and unsteadily, disoriented by the blow to her head. As she reached her feet she turned to face her attackers and her eyes widened at the sight of the gathering attack. And then twin cries issued from the Cyborgs. "Double Barrel Blaster!" The purple ball of light they'd formed shot off at high speed across the distance between them and the Demon.

She barely had time to register it's approach before it was on her. And then it exploded blasting out a crater nearly forty yards across and more than thirty deep. And it left behind none of the Demon. "One down...." Gainin began.

"Four to go." finished Mijima.

"This isn't possible...." the fat Demon said. "How can any Shinkai Mortal have that kind of power?"

Vegeta snorted. "You pale and tremble after fighting the weakest of us, and yet you expect us to be worried about dealing with your master?" The Sai-jin smirked. "As I said, if this is the best Makai has to offer you've already lost."

"Right, my turn." Hotaru said, stepping forward. "Who's next?"

The fourth strongest of them, the one with the pale blue skin and lizard like face, snorted and stepped forward. "You want to fight us? With such a puny power level?" he laughed. "I'll take this one."

"Hold it Daemon." Angel said. "I think we should take these mortals a little more seriously."

"You can't be serious?" asked the fat one.

"Deval, why would I not be?" she asked, looking toward him. "Underestimating what we would be facing is why Elazeba is dead." Then she turned to the other of the group. "Ciferlu, you can read hidden power, what do you see?"

The dark black Demon closed his eyes, his eyelids glowing faint red from the light of his eyes, and focused on the girl that had stepped forward. Even before they gained their increased power and transformed appearances he'd possessed the ability to see an individual's potential. To see the full extent of their power no matter what means they used to conceal it.

As he focused on the woman he found his senses clouded by powerful magic and it took a moment to peel away at the layers and find what he sought. "Powerful magic flows through her." he said after a moment. "It hides her power from me and binds it from her. She has more power than I can sense but she can not access that power. Of what she can access her strength surpasses that of Daemon though Deval is her superior."

"Nonsense!" Daemon cried. "No worthless Mortal, no Shinkai scum, can have more power than I!" he cried, smacking one of his large fists against his chest. "I will kill her!"

"You will stay where you are." Angel growled. "Deval, you deal with her."

"I can take her!" Daemon roared as he suddenly lunged forward. With his charge his power climbed rapidly and Hotaru barely had time to transform before he was on her. She'd jumped straight to the third level and quickly brought her arms up and deflected the punch aimed for her head. Then her knee shot up and smashed into the Demon's chest with a thunderous crash that cracked several of his ribs.

Angel scowled at the sight before her. Ciferlu's words had been proven true, not that she'd doubted him. Daemon was an imbecile. But the girl was impressive, well beyond anything she had expected to encounter while in Shinkai. Especially not while in the Mortal Plane. Maybe in Otherworld, but not here. It made her wonder what kind of force Tenma and Demona had met with.

But she quickly pushed that aside. The new woman, now with red stripes on her body, silver streaked blue hair, and pink eyes, was far more than Daemon could deal with. "Daemon, that's enough, get back here." she ordered.

The Demon had a hand pressed against its chest and was grunting and groaning in pain, anger, and frustration. "No!" he growled. "I will not let this worthless trash shame me!"

Angel's scowl deepened and she raised an arm, pointed a finger at the Demon, and fired a stream of black energy through his head. Daemon collapsed to the ground dead before he even realized he'd been attacked. "Deval, kill her."

The large round Demon smirked. "With pleasure."

Hotaru turned her shocked gaze from the dead Demon before her to the new threat walking her way. Even without powering up this new opponent was already stronger than her current level. Strong enough she wouldn't stand a chance without a boost in power. "You can't take me at that level." she said, slipping into a fighting stance.

"Oh? Is that so?" Deval asked, smirking. He glanced back at his companions. "Hey, Ciferlu, is she maxed out?" he asked.

Ciferlu nodded. "She's at her full power." he replied. "At least, her full accessible power. Whatever is left is bound by powerful magic."

Deval turned back to Hotaru, still smirking. "Well, you heard the man." he said. "So, time to kill you!" With that his stubby legs pushed off and he charged in at Hotaru, right arm pulling back and hand clenching into a fist. One blow to the head would easily be enough to kill her.

Hotaru smirked and crouched slightly. The Demon was so convinced of his superiority he wasn't charging her at full speed. More than enough to easily over take her but not so fast she'd be unable to react. Big mistake. Just as he was almost on her she dropped down low and called out. "Nibai Kinryoku!" As the silver aura flared to life around her, her leg shot up and her foot slammed into his stomach driving the Demon skyward with a resounding crack. And then she vanished.

Angel stared wide eyed at the sudden rush of power and attack the Mortal had produced, and her disappearance. A moment later a second loud impact sounded high in the sky and she looked up to find the woman, her feet planted against Deval's chest, driving him rapidly to the ground. They impacted a moment later with a massive crash that showered debris up and out for hundreds of feet and made the ground quake.

"Ciferlu, I thought you said she was maxed out?" Angel hissed.

"She... she was." the Demon replied. "She had no more power in reserve. And the magically bound power is still bound. I don't understand... the only way she could have more power than I can detect is to have forced it...."

"Exactly." came Hotaru's voice as she walked up out of the dust cloud caused by the recent impact, silver aura still flashing around her. "I can double my power with this move. You're just lucky I can't use higher levels of the Kinryoku in this form or I could boost my power five fold."

"Don't think this is over yet!" a voice called from behind Hotaru. The Tanarian turned quickly and was nailed by a fist to her face as Deval surged out of the last of the dust cloud. The blow sent her sailing off and Deval charged after her.

"He's powered-up." Vegeta said, frowning.

"Yeah, he's almost as powerful as Hotaru." said Videl. "He must have managed it right before the impact, he doesn't seem to be that injured."

Vegeta scowled in agreement as he watched Hotaru recover, block a punch, and then counter with a hard kick that was dodged. "This fight could take a wile." he said. Hearing a faint laugh behind him he turned a little to where the injured Sakura was propped against a rock. It was her that was laughing.

"The only reason... your fight with her... took so long...." she managed to say. "Was because she wanted... a good fight... and she couldn't... risk killing you."

Vegeta arched an eyebrow and then turned back to the fight just in time to see the Tanarian finish an array of hand motions and cup her hands in front of her face making a tunnel to look through. And then her voice rang out. "Shika-Shidou Konmei!"

The charging Demon came to a stop with an ear splitting scream as he pressed his hands over his eyes. The Sai-jin King winced, more at the memory of the technique than the Demon's cries, as he watched Hotaru surge in toward her opponent. She reached him an instant later and unleashed flurry of blows against his head, chest, and stomach. The Demon was so distracted by the Konmei that he was unable to react or block.

Hotaru flipped over him and kicked him the back of the head on her way down driving him down into the ground. As she turned to face him, his grunts and screams of pain fading away, she performed another series of hand motions. "Shika-Shidou Yaiba!" she cried as the fat Demon stood. The energy blades flared to life around both of her hands and in a burst of silver she surged in once more.

Deval turned quickly and slipped around her first swipe and then tried to block the second. He let out a shout of surprise as intense pain lanced through his arm. He jerked back quickly and Hotaru lunged swinging her left arm in a downward slash that cut through his shoulder. No physical damage was done but Deval cried out in pain and moved back again, trying his best to fight the pain and still focus on the battle.

Angel scowled as she watched the Mortal quickly assume control of the match. She was only slightly stronger than Deval, though his power was already beginning to drop, but she had a clear advantage in experience. Especially with fighting at such high levels. She was also attacking with a ferocity the Demon rarely saw, even in Makai. Her attacks were constant, unrelenting, Deval didn't have the time to consider an attack, let alone make one.

"Deval!" she cried as the Demon just avoided being stabbed in the head with one of the woman's odd energy blades. "End this! Now!"

Deval stood panting as he looked toward Angel for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Hotaru once more. The woman stood in a fighting stance, blades at the ready, taking deep and steady breaths. She'd worn herself a little, he could see that, but she was controlling her breathing, letting her body gradually recover.

Meanwhile he was already on the verge of exhaustion. He'd expended a lot more power dodging her than he should have. More than he'd needed to. But his lack of experience with using so much power had made it unavoidable. Still, this short break was what he needed. He let out a long slow breath as he gathered his thoughts and decided on a course of action.

Even with the power he'd lost there was still a way he could win this battle. Grinning he smacked his hands together in front of him. Red and black light flared up around them and then he started to pull them apart. The energy arced between his palms like electricity and crackled and popped like a fire.

Hotaru tightened her stance a little as she watched and let her energy blades fade away. She wasn't sure what the Demon had planned but had already decided her best course of action was to dodge it completely and then end this before he got a second chance to use whatever he was trying to use.

Suddenly Deval thrust his arms forward. "Purifying Explosion!" he cried. The red and black energies leapt from his hands and surged forward in an instant. And then a massive explosion shook the planet as the attack reached its destination. Dirt and debris were launched well into the air.

Deval smirked as he lowered his arms. "One Shinkai scum dow-guh!" His eyes snapped wide as pain lanced through his body. And then he toppled forward and collapsed, eyes open but unseeing, and a large hole through his chest. Hotaru lowered her arm, thin wisps of smoke still wafting up from her hand, and then let her Kinryoku fade away as she reverted back to normal.

Angel scowled and growled. One second the woman was on the receiving end of Deval's attack. The next she was standing behind him, arm against his back, and shooting a beam of energy through his chest. Things were not going as planned and it was starting to annoy her. "Ciferlu, kill her!"

The pitch black Demon unfurled his wings and lunged in at the Tanarian but there was a sudden flash of gold and then a resounding crack as Gohan transformed and came between the two, kicking the Demon back the way he'd come.

"Thanks." Hotaru said, letting out a sigh.

"No problem." Gohan replied as he glanced back toward her.

"Impossible...." Ciferlu said softly, his eyes closed. "I can't read his full power."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

Ciferlu opened his eyes. "The boy, I can't determine what power he may be hiding. I can feel there is power there but I can't measure its extent. It's like it's too deep, too shrouded. I have never felt anything like it before. I do know this, however, from what I can feel his full power is nearly your equal."

Angel turned her gaze from Ciferlu to the boy and scowled. "Then stand aside, I will deal with this one." she said, walking forward.

"Why don't you just leave?" Gohan asked, slipping into a fighting stance as he flashed and transformed again, now to the second level. From what the one Demon had said it'd be needed in order to fight against her. "I don't want to fight you if I don't have to."

Angel smirked. "I have a mission to accomplish. And the fact you'd rather not fight me tells me you know you can't win."

Off to the side Vegeta snorted. "No, the brat's just a pacifist." he said. "And even if he can't beat you, I can."

"Well then, why don't we just skip him and go straight to you?" Angel asked, her smirk growing. "I have a schedule to keep and the longer this goes on the further I fall behind. And your other friends can't last forever on their own."

"That is up to the boy." the Sai-jin replied.

Gohan stood in silence for a moment, not moving, as he considered the situation. He really didn't want to have to fight, especially since it looked like the only way to stop these last two would be to kill them. But then there were his father and grandfather's last request of him, seven years ago, delivered by the Trunks and Sakura of the future. That he was now in charge of protecting the Earth, their friends, and their family.

While it was true Vegeta was stronger than him he couldn't help but feel, somehow, that this fight was his responsibility. He may not have been on Earth. And he may not have been the strongest of them anymore. But he was the one left in charge of protecting everyone by his father and grandfather. "No. I'll fight." he said at last.

"Very well then, I'll kill you first." Angel said, turning to face him. And then in a burst of black she surged in at him, her power surging up to just above his as she charged.

Planet Vegeta's Lookout

Tatamo's eyes raked over all the fighting occurring down on the planet. It was impossible to truly tell which side was winning. Depending on where you looked a different side would have the upper hand. And if you looked away from somewhere for a moment... by the time you looked back the other side would be in control.

He turned his focus back to where the most important of the battles was occurring as he felt Gohan's power flare up. The boy had just ascended to the second level. /So, it's down to the end now./ he thought. /With luck I will not have need to intervene./ 


	38. Maku

Chapter Thirty-eight - Maku

A black and red aura had flared up around Maku while a purple and dark blue one pulsed around Demona. The two Demons had been locked in close combat, exchanging attacks, blocks, and counters, for about five minutes now. Maku had quickly taken the upper hand in the exchange. He had more than just a minor power advantage on his side, his skill was considerably higher as well.

It seemed as though her red eyes glowed brighter and brighter the longer the battle raged and the angrier she got. Suddenly a hard right hook connected with Maku's jaw driving the Demon back. Demona smirked and charged in pulling back an arm and then driving her fist down into his gut. A quick spin and she pounded her leg into the side of his head knocking him toward the ground. "I am going to enjoy ripping you apart Maku!" she cried gleefully as she charged toward her target.

Bardock crossed his arms and scowled, tapping his foot against the ground. "I think we've been forgotten." he said with a frown.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Goku agreed, scratching a hand through the golden hair on the back of his head. "These two are completely wrapped up in each other. They must have some kind of history."

"History or not it's annoying." His frown turned into a smirk and he glanced toward Goku. "What do you say we remind them we're still here?" he asked.

Goku smiled. "Sounds better than standing here."

"Alright!" Bardock cheered, uncrossing his arms. "I don't think we can take this guy one on one, in our current state, so let's take out the other one so we can take him together. Let's show them why you shouldn't ignore a Sai-jin!"

Appla listened to her mate and son as she watched the on going fight between the two Demons. Demona had caught up with Maku again but the other had blocked and then countered with a kick to the chest that drove her back into the air again. He'd charged up and the two had resumed their close range flurry of attacks from before. When the Sai-jin heard Bardock's declaration she decided standing just ten yards away from them was too close and moved back another thirty. Her distancing herself from the Sai-jin pair didn't go unnoticed by the other dead warriors and soon they were pulling back as well.

Mikomi turned her gaze from the battling Demons as she heard yells sounding near-by. Looking she found Goku and Bardock hunched over and screaming, their bright gold auras swirling madly about them and growing brighter and brighter as the two channeled their energy. Dust began to swirl up around them as their auras began to mix together and then the planet began to quake. And then their auras began to flash and then transformed into a swirling dome of light covering both of them.

The screams from within the dome faded away and then their voices called out together. "Rising Sun!" There was a thunderous crack, brilliant flash, and then an eruption of energy tore free of the dome and surged toward the still fighting Demons. The backwash of power from the attack blew over many of the gathered warriors and Demons and sent some of them flying away for hundreds of yards.

The attack was nearly on them before either Demona or Maku noticed it coming. They both turned, their eyes widening in shock. But Demona's shock turned into fear as she realized the power of the attack and that she couldn't avoid it. Maku's melted into a smirk as he vanished. An instant later the attack slammed into Demona and then surged on as though she wasn't even there.

The Demon left out a scream as she tried to defend against the attack while it tore over her. When the attack faded and the two Sai-jins lowered their arms her screams had already stopped. And then her smoking body fell from the sky and landed with a dull thud beside her sister. Both of them were still alive but neither would be moving for a while. Her dealt with they turned their focus toward Maku who had appeared in the air behind them after his dodge.

"I must admit, to have generated such an attack in the little time she and I were fighting was an impressive feat." he said. "But after a display like that you'll be spent and no match for me."

Goku and Bardock glanced at each other and then looked back up at the Demon. It was Bardock that spoke. "You can't sense ki, can you?" he asked, grinning.

Maku shrugged. "I never bothered to learn." he replied. "Though as easily as you found me just now I see that you can sense ki. So you should know just how out matched you are."

"I don't know about that." Bardock said, working a small cramp out of his shoulder. "Even if we hadn't been fighting you'd still be a little stronger than us. But we've had time to recover thanks to you and her fighting each other and that attack didn't use up too much of our power. We did combine our strengths for it, after all."

The Demon smirked. "Which is the only reason you were able to produce something able to hurt Demona." he said. "But I wont buy your bluffing that you could ever match me. You are Shinkai and Mortal, comparing to my power is impossible." And in a burst of purple he charged down at them.

The two Sai-jins grinned and reacted quickly, both of them suddenly vanishing. Maku's eyes widened in shock but before he could react Bardock's leg appeared before him and slammed into his face. The blow knocked him backward toward Goku who then kicked him in the back sending him up into the air. Bardock had teleported once more and appeared above the Demon before smashing a fist into his face.

The impact knocked him down toward the planet but Goku teleported to intercept and attacked again slamming a leg into the side of his head knocking him in another direction. This time when Bardock appeared to launch the next attack Maku vanished. Bardock vanished a second later and the attempted kick to the back of his head caught nothing but air.

"Oooh, too slow!" Bardock called before slamming his knee into the Demon's stomach. Maku growled and went to attack but suddenly Goku's elbow smashed into the back of his neck and drove him down into the ground.

"Remarkable." Mikomi said softly. "Though decently outmatched in power the two of them are completely controlling the fight. These two are truly exceptional warriors."

There was a sudden shout followed by an explosion of red and black as Maku launched up into the air with incredible speed. The two Sai-jins quickly moved to either side but then Maku vanished. There was a resounding crack as Goku blocked a kick with a raised arm, the impact making him wince. He countered with a hard left hook but the Demon dodged it and then moved behind the Sai-jin and jammed a knee into his back driving him forward.

Maku prepared to follow but then Bardock surged down in front of him and lashed out with a kick for his head. The Demon blocked it with one arm and then slammed an open fist into his chest sending him chasing after Goku. The younger Sai-jin had just pulled himself to a stop when his father slammed into him. Before the two could start to pull themselves apart Maku appeared above them and drove an elbow into the tops of each of their heads.

They were only feet from hitting the ground when Bardock suddenly shot off to the right in a burst of gold and Goku vanished. The Demon went to turn, expecting his opponent to appear behind him, but Goku appeared before him and jammed his knee into his stomach doubling him over. He followed that up with an elbow to the side of the head and then a kick to the back that drove him down toward the ground.

Bardock arced around and then surged up at the falling Demon and slammed a flying uppercut into his jaw driving him up into Goku's downward moving foot which impacted with his face with a loud crack. The blow slammed Maku down into the ground and the two Sai-jins pulled to a stop above him, panting lightly. The Demon was stronger and faster than them so they'd had to go full out to keep up and the exertion was starting to get to them.

"This is..." Maku said softly, barely audible to the Sai-jins above. "This is... not possible. How can two Mortals be this... this powerful?" he wondered, eyes wide as he stared up at them. "How many thousands of years have you been training here?" he asked, climbing to his feet.

"Thousands?" Bardock scoffed. "We've only been dead for seven years."

"Seven... years? That's not possible! No mortal could have this kind of power in just seven years!"

"It's not like we didn't train before we died." Goku said, stretching.

"You could live to be a thousand..." Maku called up. "And still not be a tenth of my power."

Bardock shook his head. "For invaders you haven't done much homework, you know that?" he asked. "Goku and I are only about two and a half times stronger than we were seven years ago. Hell, we weren't even the strongest alive back then. Though if you'd shown up about three or more years ago you could have taken us. But now? You don't have a chance."

Maku stared up at the two of them taking in what they'd said. /How is that... how is it possible?/ he thought. /Mortals just don't have that kind of power. The strongest Mortals in Makai have all been dead for thousands of years and the strongest of them isn't even a third of Malchio's power.... Yet these two, if they speak the truth, would have been stronger upon their deaths than Makai's strongest Mortal..../

"The son of the one in the orange..." Zenryou began from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back. "He is the one that they meant." Maku's gaze turned from the two Sai-jins to the Kai. He recognized who and what he was upon sight, the clothes giving it away. Zenryou continued. "His son, Gohan, who was only eleven at the time, surpassed my power."

"E-eleven!? But... how?"

Bardock smirked. "Like I told your 'friends' before. We are Sai-jins. Super Sai-jins. The greatest power in the universe."

"That would be the famous Sai-jin pride speaking." Zenryou replied. "Still, not all that far from the truth. The Sai-jins are one of the most powerful races in Shinkai. The Tanarians and Humans as well, though their numbers of high level warriors are much smaller and none currently compare to the Sai-jins. Living or otherwise."

There was a sudden loud cry from the Demon and then a bright flash of red and black energy as he erupted from where he stood. The Demon surged at the two Sai-jins faster than he'd moved yet during their battle. Their eyes widened in shock and they moved to avoid him but he was on them too quickly. Stretching his arms out he clothes-lined both of them in the neck and then spun around as he passed them and slammed his feet into the backs of their heads.

Not stopping even for a second he charged down after Bardock and passed him by before thrusting a knee up into the Sai-jin's stomach. He then front flipped in place and smashed the foot of his other leg into Bardock's chest driving him back up into the air. Turning around quickly he fired a blast of red energy down at Goku who'd just impacted the ground below. Then he turned back to Bardock and vanished.

He appeared a moment later above the Sai-jin and quickly grabbed hold of him, wrapping his arms around the man's chest and pinning the Sai-jin's arms down. In a burst of energy he changed directions and began charging the ground below at increasing speeds. As they neared the energy blast sent chasing after Goku impacted and exploded and the two plunged into the dust cloud the blast created.

A loud crack sounded from within the dust and a massive shockwave blew it apart. But there was no sign of the battling warriors. Another crack sounded high in the sky, a bright flash of white accompanying it, but still no trace of the fighters. Suddenly Bardock appeared overhead surging down toward them but after only a few feet he vanished again.

"Incredible...." Mikomi said, her eyes darting around the sky as she followed the battle.

"What's happening?" Kibito asked as a loud explosion sounded and the three fighters appeared flying away from each other only to vanish again.

"They're teleporting constantly." the Supreme Kai said. "They're fighting each other mid teleport, coming out of the teleport, and then teleporting again usually before we can even see them. They're fighting for the upper hand, for control of this battle."

Another crack sounded and a streak surged down and slammed into the ground throwing up dust and debris once more. In the sky Bardock and Maku appeared across from each other, both panting heavily. And then there was a burst of gold from below and Goku surged back up into the battle. Maku vanished first, and then both Sai-jins followed.

Loud bangs and cracks sounded across the landscape as flashes of white, gold, blue, and red lit up the sky. Suddenly Goku appeared floating a few feet above the Grand Kai, hands cupped at his side. "Kaaaaaaa... meeeeeee..." he called, blue energy flaring to life between his hands. "Haaaaaa... meeeeeee..." And then he thrust his hands forward and vanished as he called out and fired the attack. "Haaaaaaa!"

A thunderous crack sounded as a bright flash of blue flared up in the sky. The shockwave washed out across the planet blowing over the Demons and the dead and shaking the world. Kibito put an arm up in front of his face to shield his eyes from the glare and the dust as he dug his feet in to stop from being blown back.

Everyone turned as a thunderous crash sounded behind them and found a plume of dust surging into the air and shattered rocks raining down. And then Goku and Bardock appeared before the settling cloud, both panting and tired. Goku's gi was in tatters, the top completely shredded. Bardock's armor was cracked, the left side of the chest plate missing completely.

"Remind me... not to do that... ever again." Goku panted.

"Never. Do that. Again." Bardock panted back. He straightened up a little and frowned. "Oh, crap."

Goku nodded. He could feel it too. Maku was still alive and still stronger than both of them. Trying to keep up with him was burning them down too fast. Though Bardock was closer to the Demon in power now than he'd been Goku was even further off. "You know, despite everything, I've not had this much fun in a while." the Sai-jin said as he watched the dust cloud settle.

Bardock smirked and laughed a little. "Same here. But damn, what does it take to kill this guy? He seems to be as durable as us."

"What do you think?" Goku asked, straightening up a little himself now, the dust cloud almost completely gone. "Should we?"

Bardock crossed his arms and frowned in thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nah." he said at last. "I think we can still take him." The Sai-jin tilted his head a moment and then called out. "That is, if he ever gets back up to fight!" Maku had yet to move from where he'd impacted. They could tell he was still conscious, he just wasn't moving.

Goku even crossed his arms after a few moments while Bardock began to tap his feet, both starting to get impatient. Finally Maku sat up, his white hair streaked with dirt and dust. His red eyes were narrowed and he looked rather pissed. The two Sai-jins glanced at each other sharing the same 'here we go again' look, and then turned back to the Demon. Maku was now on his feet and hand his hands up before him as though praying.

"Hey, what's he doing?" Goku asked as the Demon's robes shifted about him as though in a breeze.

Bardock glanced over to Goku. "And just how would I know?" he asked.

Maku heard them but ignored them. He kept his mind focused on what he was doing, his eyes closed tight as he concentrated. Quietus had told them that, should the need arise, they could draw more power into themselves if they tried. He'd warned that so doing would change them, more so than what they already had been changed, and that the results would be unpredictable in nature. Slightly stronger, but unpredictable.

All had agreed to only attempt it if required. Many had decided they wouldn't risk it at all. The fear of no longer being themselves greater than their fear of death. For him it wasn't fear of death that drove him to try it now. It was his bruised ego. For the last thirty thousand years he had been one of the strongest Demons. No match, of course, for any of the Mazoku. But stronger than even each of the sixteen Demon Judges. Only a handful had been greater than him.

When their powers had been granted the scales of power had shifted slightly, gaps increasing or decreasing, some remarkably so. But his status had remained the same, he was still one of the strongest. Even fewer were greater than him now. Nearly unbeatable by any other Demon. He was now even greater than the four Lower Mazoku and the Grand Mazoku. He had been granted power enough to crush everyone but the greatest of Makai.

And yet, here in Shinkai, the inferior and weaker Realm... here he was being challenged, beaten. Not by the Kais, for he could accept that, but by Mortals. Dead though they were they, by their own admission, had not been dead long. He had fought long and hard to obtain the power he had, to get to where he was now, and these two upstart weakling Shinkai scum were beating him. They were beating him and he would not have it!

There was a sudden roar as the wind picked up, raging across the planet and toward Maku. Black wisps of smoke drifted away from the gathered Demons in the wind and flowed to where Maku stood. In moments he was engulfed in a twister of darkness, his voice screaming out from inside at a volume that could be heard even over the roar of the wind.

"I think things are about to get difficult." Bardock said as he fought hard not to get sucked into the twister himself. 


	39. Massacre

Chapter Thirty-nine - Massacre

The elder Vegeta scowled as he gazed down at the city streets below him. He stood on the corner of a building at one of the city's numerous intersections. He'd felt a power in the area that he didn't know and had come to check it out. There were a few Zombies and some of the Demons but nothing else. He knew it hadn't been them he'd felt, though. They weren't strong enough.

"So what did I sense and where did it go?" he wondered. Feeling a power nearing him from behind he turned and looked and saw Pug flying toward him. The alien arrived and landed beside him a moment later.

"I thought that was you." Pug said as he fiddled with his scouter. The alien had yet to grasp sensing powers, though as none of his race could yet do it they were beginning to assume that, for some reason, the skill was impossible for them. "At least this thing locked onto you but I can't get it to cooperate on anything else."

Vegeta noticed then that the Rondo was wearing the newest model. Instead of scanning powers themselves they used a planetary satellite network which read the powers and then transmitted the data to the headset. The advantage to that was that it wouldn't overload. The satellite could read powers of extremely high levels, they were as advanced as those in the arena. The drawback was a slight delay in data. All information was bout five seconds old.

The only work the headset did was pin-point objects of interest for the satellites to lock onto. They were still in the early test phase, however. The primary design difference was that they lacked the glass eye piece, instead holographicly projecting information directly into the retina. The Senator still thought they looked odd, like you had a microphone in front of your eye.

"Tracking a power that isn't behaving properly?" Vegeta asked, turning his gaze forward again.

"And then some." Pug replied. "And with the delay I seem to always be five steps behind." Pug paused a moment and then blinked. "Wait, how'd you know it wasn't...."

"Because that's what I'm doing here." he said. "A group of us came into the city to deal with Cold and some forces he brought with him and...."

"COLD!?" Pug cried. "But... isn't he dead?"

"Was." Vegeta replied. He glanced off into the distance. "And will be again soon, Raditz and Nova are just about to him. Anyway, this power is fluctuating a lot. Up and down again. It hasn't settled long enough for me to get any kind of feeling for it. I don't think it's gone over a hundred thousand yet, though. So that's good at least."

"I've not read anything over 40,000." Pug said, still fiddling with the scouter. "It's changing too fast for the data feed to keep up with. The Satellites are getting confused."

"My senses too." Vegeta replied. "I think whoever it is is doing it on purpose. They don't want to be found."

"Just being cautious or...?"

"I don't know but I don't like it." He said. Then he turned quickly. "There!" he cried, blasting off toward the power.

Pug shot after him, still adjusting the scouter, which was now giving him a rapidly increasing number for the power ahead of him. He cursed under his breath when it broke a million.

XXX

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Lemon Lane

Yamcha was just about to head back to where Kazuki knelt by his sister when a power suddenly flared up behind him. He turned around and his eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear. "What!?" he cried out, drifting backward.

His yell got Kazuki's attention and boy looked up in time to see a stream of golden energy tear its way through Yamcha's chest and out his back. His eyes moved from the Human, his King, and to the man's attacker. His own eyes widened as Yamcha's had, and then further when he saw the golden ball of energy surging toward him.

Pug and Vegeta landed in the street a minute later. The Sai-jin knelt down and closed Yamcha's eyes while keeping his own averted from the massive hole in the Human. Looking down the street he saw two more bodies badly damaged from an energy attack. Both of them were dead as well. "They're playing cat and mouse with us." he said with a growing scowl.

Pug nodded. "They know a direct attack will get them noticed and get someone stronger than them on them in moments. They're showing more intelligence than the rest of these idiots."

"If we don't find them quickly everyone who came to defend the city will be dead."

XXX

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Slug surged out of the dust cloud created by the exploding energy blasts with an arm pulled back and energy snapping about his fist. Piccolo started dodging to the right as he felt another power flare behind him. An instant later a ball of green energy surged passed him and slammed into Slug head on.

Piccolo glanced back at Eskarga and gave him a nod before charging in at Slug. The power difference was still too much for a direct battle but the energy blast had caught Slug off guard, though it hadn't hurt him. Still, the powerful Namek's defenses were down. This was an opening he couldn't pass up.

Reaching the other Namek a moment later he lashed out with an energy encased foot and smashed him on the side of the head, the energy exploding and knocking the Namek staggering. Slug recovered quickly, however, and slammed a fist into Piccolo's stomach doubling him over and then a double handed blow to his back drove the Namek into the ground.

Tien scowled as he watched the battle. Things were not going well for Piccolo and with the two Namek's having fused he was now seriously out powered by Slug. He'd already returned to normal and floated back to join Vadora, Akemi, and a now awake Cheri. "You three should leave." he said. "Go find the others where it's safer."

"What about you, dad?" Cheri asked.

"I'm going to stay, be what help I can be." he replied. He'd watched Eskarga come up around behind Slug again and extend his arms toward the Namek. Apparently planning to absorb more energy from him. Slug, however, noticed him this time and quickly spun, slicing out with an arm and severing both of Eskarga's.

"Help?" Vadora asked. "Tien, don't be crazy, if you stay you'll just get yourself killed!"

By now Piccolo had charged back up into the air again and distracted Slug from Eskarga. The weaker Namek was circling around the battle looking for an opportunity to try and siphon off more energy. Meanwhile Piccolo was lobbing energy blasts doing his best to keep from getting hit himself.

"Don't worry about me." the Human said, resting a hand on Vadora's shoulder. "I've made it through worse situations than this." Vadora didn't move, just stared him right in the eyes. "I promise, I wont die here."

Vadora's shoulders sagged a little and she sighed. "You better keep that promise or I'll come to Otherworld and kill you myself, even if I have to get through the Kais to do it."

Tien smiled a little and nodded. "It's a deal."

Vadora gave him one last look and then turned around taking Akemi and Cheri's hands. "Come on girls, let's go." she said, before flying off and pulling them with her.

With them gone Tien turned his focus back to the battle at hand. He knew a way to stall Slug but he'd need to get Piccolo and Eskarga's attention first, so that they wouldn't get caught in it as well. And then things took a turn for the worse. Eskarga made another bid to grab Slug to drain his energy, having regrown his arms, but Slug was ready for him again. He dodged the grab and then fired a blast of energy back that removed the Namek's head.

XXX

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Cabbage Street

Roshi rubbed his head as he leaned against the building. "I didn't even sense them coming." he said.

"Long range energy blast." Tangerie told him. "You're just lucky the one that attacked you was weak. What I want to know is where'd that thing go that Dubibub was fighting? It looked like some sort of mutant Elebor."

"I just wish I'd still been here." Toma said.

"You wouldn't have been much help." Dubibub said as he massaged his sore shoulders. "Those guys were batting me around like a doll."

"It's not safe out here." Sango said as she looked around. She'd felt powers flaring up not more than twenty blocks away but hadn't had time to determine who or what or how strong they were before they vanished. She could still feel two fairly high powers off that way, just about to where the others had been, and she was pretty sure one of them was Senator Vegeta.

The Tanarian turned back to the others. "We should head back to the palace, it's safer there."

"There are still a lot of people in the city though." Chaotzu said from where he floated near Bulma.

Bulma nodded. "He's right, we need to get more people to safety first."

"We'll stay." Toma said. "But you're going back to the palace. And no more royal orders." he added, before Bulma could refuse.

"I'll take her back." Sango offered. "Then come back and...." Her voice trailed off as her eyes opened wide in shock and pain.

The others turned to look at her as she made a gurgling sound and they saw blood running down her chin. "S-Sango?" Bulma started, making a half step toward her. As the Tanarian fell to her knees something knocked Bulma aside and she just caught a glimpse of gold light zip passed her. As she hit the ground Sango collapsed completely, dead.

Bulma looked from the woman to her side to see what had hit her and saw Roshi laying on the ground where she'd been standing, a hole through his head. "Oh... oh...."

"Where's it coming from!?" Dubibub cried as they all looked around for some glimpse of an attacker. Some sign of where the enemy was, who they were. But they saw and sensed nothing. And then suddenly a power spike down the road, a flash of gold, and then a cry from Toma as he was pierced through the heart.

"There!" Tangerie cried as she thrust her arms forward and fired off the strongest blast she could muster. Dubibub did the same using her attack as a guide for where to hit. The blasts hit a building several blocks away at almost the same time and exploded, bringing the structure crashing down.

There was a sudden loud crack to Dubibub's left and he turned to find Tangerie falling forward, her head bent back at such an angle her neck was obviously broken. Turning around he thrust an arm out and fired a punch at her attacker but there was no one there. And then a loud crunch as a foot came down from above and slammed into the top of his head. The alien slumped to the ground, dead, an instant later.

"Bu-bu-but... you... you're...." Bulma stammered. The attacker smirked and then fired two more beams of energy before departing the scene.

A few moments later Pug and Vegeta landed in the street. Pug quickly took in the sight around him. Toma with a hole through his chest, Tangerie a broken neck, Dubibub a crushed skull, Sango a large hole in her back, Roshi with a hole in his head, and.... "By the Kais!" he cried, his eyes settling on Chaotzu and Bulma, slumped against the building, eyes wide in terror, a hole through Chaotzu's head and one through Bulma's chest.

XXX

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Tien wasn't sure how long Piccolo would last on his own but he had to act now. Otherwise neither of them would last for long. In a burst of silver and red he transformed and shot to his full power quickly charging toward the Nameks. Piccolo pulled aside in shock at the Human's charge but Slug just smirked and laughed.

Tien grinned as well as he moved his lower arms into the required position and began to charge an attack between his hands. Meanwhile his upper arms came up, his fingers splayed before his face. Piccolo saw this and quickly turned away, closing his eyes, as Tien's voice rang out. "Solar Flare!"

Slug left out a cry of pain as the bright flash of light seared his eyes and blinded him. Instantly Tien arced skyward. /You better prepare something powerful Piccolo./ he thought. /I've got a promise to keep, I can't go all out in this attack./ Reaching a high enough altitude the Human pulled to a stop and then gazed down through his bottom hands, golden energy sparking between them.

Through the tunnel of his fingers he could see Piccolo, arms pulled back, gathering energy as well. Gold and blue around the left, black and red the right. Tien recognized the move from the Cell Games. /Good. I just need to take Slug down a peg or two to make sure Piccolo's attack finishes the job./ he thought as the energy between his hands shifted silver and then red.

Below him Slug was lowering his hands from his eyes, his vision was starting to clear. No matter, his attack was ready. "Alright!" he called out. "Take this! Super Tri-beam!" Red and gold light flashed and flared and then surged down and slammed into Slug with a resounding crack. The blast surged on down and impacted the ground with a loud bang and powerful quake.

It wasn't the strongest Super Tri-beam he could do, he'd hoped to charge it a little further, but he doubted even his strongest would have had much more effect than the one he'd just used. Seven years ago he'd used one about as powerful as the one he'd just done. It had taken longer to charge and it had nearly killed him but he'd done it, and with a much lower power.

But despite that he could tell, from the strain he'd felt doing the one he'd just done, that his maximum limit wasn't much higher than it had been then. He knew why. His actual power had increased greatly in the last seven years starting with his time training for the Cell Games. Too much too quickly, actually. His body was barely able to keep up with his gains.

Back then using an attack a few hundred times stronger than him was painful, draining, and dangerous, but not innately deadly. Only if he pushed too far, as he had against Super 13, was that a risk. But now, now he doubted he could do one even ten times stronger than him without dying from it. Instantly. He just couldn't handle that level of power, his body wasn't able to cope with it.

Sure, he could drop the Kinryoku and the Kaio ken. That'd give him all that leeway. But it wouldn't change the actual outcome of the attack's power. Using his normal form might yield a little extra leeway due to familiarity, but the charge time would increase exponentially to the power increase to the attack.

As he floated there panting and thinking about that, watching Piccolo as he waited for Slug to emerge from the deep crater in the ground, he realized that he was likely reaching his limit. He'd known it would happen eventually. All living beings had limits to their strength. They could be overcome or changed sometimes through various means.

The Kinryoku and Kaio Ken were two of those means, transformations too. Namekian fusion was another likely means of doing so. But, eventually, there would be a barrier that could not be crossed in life. He doubted he'd get there during his lifetime, though. Given the amount of power he was able to channel, strain or not, he had a fairly high limit. One that would take more than his lifetime to reach.

At least, in actual power. But when it comes to channeling power for attacks it could prove a problem. /I'll need to find some way around that./ he thought as he reverted back to his normal form and started to drift toward the ground, too tired to stay in the air. His feet had just touched the ground when Slug emerged from hole created by the Tri-beam. His clothing was torn and tattered and he had a few bruises but he didn't seem too heavily damaged.

But his power had dipped. Not exceptionally so. He was still stronger than Piccolo's full power and Piccolo's power had dropped during the battle too. But the Namek wasn't worried. Tien had bought him time to pump enough power into the attack he was sure it'd get the job done. He smirked as he watched Slug turn to glare at Tien. /Never take your eyes off me./ he thought. /I thought Zildar taught you that during your spars. Well, time to teach you again!/

With a grunt he spun around in a clockwise circle and thrust out his left arm. "Heaven's Gate!" he cried as the golden and blue energy around his hand swelled to eight feet in diameter and surged toward the other Namek. Slug turned at the sound of the other's voice and his eyes widened as he saw the energy coming. His shock froze him in place long enough the sphere reached and engulfed him before he could react.

Piccolo quickly spun back the other way and thrust out his right arm firing the second ball of energy. "Hell's Gate!" he cried. It shot toward Slug and slammed into the other energy a second later. Then the energy sphere flashed as the four colors swirled around each other. Piccolo held his arms out, palms open, as his voice rang out. "Good-bye, Slug! Judgment!" And then his hands closed.

The rocks below the attack began to lift into the air as a strong wind rushed in toward the energy. And then the energy flashed brightly and the pull switched suddenly into an outward rush of force. A thunderous roar sounded, the planet shook, and then it all reversed again, for an instant, and then it was gone as though it had never been. The only sign of its passage being the lack of Slug and the rounded twenty foot deep crater carved into the ground.

XXX

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Onion Avenue

"It's Akira." Pug said as he knelt over another dead body. He'd only met the Tanarian twice, when he'd accompanied Hotaru during meetings related to Sennari business, but he still recognized him. Standing back up he turned to face the general direction they were going. His scouter still wasn't picking anything up.

Vegeta gazed off into the distance as well. "That's thirteen now." he said, remembering coming across Aiko and Kavar a few blocks ago.

"Who's left?" Pug asked.

"That I came into the city with? Krillin, Raditz, and Nova." he replied. "Raditz and Nova are heading for Krillin's location now, and I believe Mango is there too."

"So Cold is dead?"

Vegeta nodded. "Though it seems Raditz and Nova have picked up some other high powers, likely her elites are flying along with them." Vegeta lifted up into the air as his purple aura burst to life around him. "Come, we must hurry, one of those two groups is likely the next target. Krillin and Mango are the closest but... I grow tired of being one step behind whoever this is. We'll head for Raditz and Nova's group."

Pug nodded and lifted into the air shooting after the Sai-jin as fast as he could move.

XXX

Earth, South City, corner of 2nd Avenue and 23rd Street

"Holy fuck!" Jairel cried as he skidded to a stop, turned around, and ran back around the corner. He left out a grunt a second later as he ran into Autoro.

"I said down 23rd street." Autoro said. "Not back the way we came."

"There's like, a thousand Zombies that way, though." Jairel replied.

"Yeah, and there's about eight thousand behind us!" Ward called as he came running up too.

"Bah, move aside." Autoro growled, pushing Jairel out of the way and then stepping around the corner. According the systems in his helmet none of the Zombies were anything major for him. Nothing over a thousand. He snorted. "Piece of cake!" he said thrusting an arm forward and sending a wave of energy into their midst incinerating hundreds of them.

As he lowered his arm he heard a sound behind him and turned to look. There was a large group of Zombies there, too, but they were facing away from him. And... some were being knocked into the air and out of sight? "What the hell...?" He tilted his head a little and listened closer as he realized that whatever was knocking the Zombies into the air was coming closer.

"!"

Suddenly a kid emerged from the throngs of Zombies, arms held out at her sides, and running along the road smiling. She zipped right by a stunned Autoro and charged toward the next group of Zombies. "Arale kick!" she cried jumping up and kicking a Zombie into a building. "Hehe, this is fun!" And then he lost sight of her in the crowds of undead.

"Uh...." Ward began from beside him. "What was that?"

"What was what?" asked Gard. "I didn't see any kid fighting Zombies."

"Right, me either." agreed Jairel.


	40. Angel

Chapter Forty - Angel

As Gainin watched Angel charge Gohan and then the two of them starting to battle he found his focus drifting from them to the distant Saiya City. He wasn't sure why but something was drawing his mind that way and after a few seconds he turned to look. He wasn't picking up any unexpected powers but.... "It feels like something is..."

"Wrong." Vegeta said from beside him. The Cyborg glanced over and saw that he, too, was gazing into the city. "Something feels wrong somehow...."

"Probably just worried about the others." Mijima said, glancing back at the city as well. "I'm worried too but they can take care of themselves." She then turned her attention to where Hotaru was now sitting with the injured Sakura again, Trunks and Goten beside them. "I almost forgot you were still here." she said to the girl. "If I were in the same shape as you I'd probably be screaming from the pain."

Sakura left out a short laugh. "Hurts more to scream." she said.

"Don't worry." Hotaru told her, resting a hand on the girl's forehead. "We'll be able to get you healed soon."

A second later a familiar voice cried out. "Sakura!" Akemi landed beside her sister, eyes wide with worry. "Sakura! You're...."

"I'm ok." she said softly. "Really. Just a little... beaten up."

"You did great." Hotaru said, resting a hand on Sakura's head. "Fighting against Recoome so well at your age."

"Meanwhile we had to deal with Ginyu." Cheri muttered. "And one of those damn Nam-"

"Cheri!" Akemi cried.

"-eks, sorry Akemi, severed my tail."

"You two fought Ginyu?" Vegeta asked, glancing over to them.

Cheri nodded. "Would have kicked his butt after I transformed if he hadn't kicked it himself."

"What do you mean?" asked Videl.

Cheri shrugged. "He tried to switch bodies with Akemi but for some reason it didn't work. Some sort of energy backwash zapped him. I lost his ki then so I think it killed him. I stepped on him any way, though, just to make sure."

Hotaru, Vegeta, Vadora, and Videl all exchanged glances at this before turning their focus back to the battle at hand. Gohan and Angel were slugging it out right on top of each other in a flurry of motions. Punches, kicks, dodges, blocks, and counters. Dozens of them in a matter of seconds.

"He's slacked off too much." Vegeta said, crossing his arms. "I expected him to be closer to my level, if not higher. I still don't have full mastery over the first form, don't get the full increase from it, and I'm still stronger than him."

"Your normal level has always been higher than his." Videl said as she gave the Sai-jin royal a sideways glance.

Vegeta snorted. "True though that may be my normal power has increased more than his and I've not gotten in nearly the training I've wanted."

"I'd think you'd be happy." Hotaru said from where she sat with Sakura. "You're finally the strongest living Sai-jin."

The royal smirked. "A little." he said. "Though it's not much challenge to surpass a brat that doesn't take training seriously."

A loud crack sounded as Angel landed a hard left hook across Gohan's jaw. The blow's downward angled thrust sent the teen toward the ground only a few feet below him. He hit with a ground shattering crash before he'd even realized he was heading toward it. Angel attempted to follow up with a ki blast but Gohan deflected it away with a kick as he flipped back onto his feet.

The two resumed their close range battle, little more than blurs of color to all those watching. "Of course, it doesn't help he's holding back." Vegeta said after a few minutes. "He may be at full power but he's pulling his punches."

"It's the form." Videl said with a shake of her head. "I've never seen him fight seriously while in the second form. He always holds back, always second guesses himself. I think... he's afraid of losing himself like he did at the Cell Games."

Gohan slipped around a punch and then jammed a knee into Angel's stomach. The first solid blow he'd landed the entire fight. But instead of following up with another attack he pulled back and went on the defensive again. A few attempted hits later he landed a kick to her side and once again moved back instead of following up with it.

It was obvious as they watched that Gohan was only going for quick single strikes even when he had the chance to follow up with more devastating attacks. Meanwhile, on the occasions where Angel got in a hit, she always tried to follow up with a second or third. Even so, the overall count for successful hits was still in Gohan's favor. Angel suffered from the same control issues that Elazeba, and likely the rest, had had.

Gohan dodged around a kick for his head and then jammed his knee into Angel's back before moving away from her again as she stumbled forward. As the Demon recovered she whirled around and thrust an arm in his direction flinging off a blast of red energy that he easily deflected. He then blocked the punch that came right after it, dodged her kick, and then shot off a punch of his own that she pushed to the side before smashing an open palm into his chest.

The blow slid him back a couple feet and knocked the wind out of him. Before he could get his breath back Angel stepped-in toward him and slammed her other palm into his chest driving him back again. Again she stepped in but this time the half Sai-jin grabbed her wrist just before impact and gave her arm a twist as he turned at the waist and then threw her down onto her back on the ground.

As he stepped back she growled and climbed back to her feet. This boy was starting to severely irritate her. She could tell he wasn't giving his all which annoyed her. And it annoyed her further when she added that to the fact he was still even with her, even though she was the stronger of the two. This fight could go on all day and if she was having this much trouble with someone her lesser and who wasn't trying what issues would she have with someone stronger who was fighting seriously?

She left out a long slow breath and closed her eyes as she brought her hands together, raised before her, as though praying. Ciferlu saw this and his eyes widened. "Angel! Are you insane!?" he cried. He was one of the ones who had decided that, under no circumstances, would he use this particular technique. Death was preferable to no longer being himself. "It's not worth it!"

Gohan glanced at the other Demon as he spoke and then turned to the others who all simply shrugged. He felt a sudden rush of wind and turned back toward the Demon. He watched in confusion as black wisps of smoke coming from the other Demon and all around them began to drift in toward her in the wind. Within seconds a whirlwind of the black smoke had surrounded her and her screams began to sound across the landscape, even over the roar of the wind.

Angel had heard Ciferlu's shout but had ignored him. She didn't care what happened to her as long as she got the power to win this battle. If it meant the death of her, as far as her personality went, then so be it. She would win this battle, she would not lose to Mortals, to Shinkai weaklings, no matter the cost. She refused to suffer such shame. And so, even as the pain tore at her body, she kept her mind focused on what she was doing.

Black and dark purple energy began to seep out from the dark twister as her screams intensified. And then the smoke transformed into black and purple energy and the roar of the energy twister drowned out the screams from within. The energy continued to swirl for a moment longer and then dissipated away into non existence in a matter of seconds. When the energy vanished and revealed Angel once more everyone, even Ciferlu, let out gasps of shock. No longer would she be able to pass herself off as a yellow skinned Human.

Her height had increased from five to eight feet, her shoulders had broadened along with her upper torso giving her a disproportionate look as her legs were still as slim as before. Though they were now longer and her feet larger and clawed. Her long arms had three inch long spikes along the outer edge and her hands each had eight clawed fingers.

Her face no longer resembled anything Human, wide mouth full of two rows of large silvery teeth and a forked black tongue, a flat and wide nose, overly large solid red eyes, and long pointy ears. Her hair was gone leaving her bald and revealing the deformed shape of her head as it stretched back and hooked up into a point nearly a foot and a half behind her face. Her skin was now leathery and a drab green color like wet moss.

The Angel snorted, black smoke emitting from her nostrils, as she flexed her fingers and growled, glaring at Gohan. The teen swallowed and took on his combat stance again. Her changed appearance had brought with it a considerable increase in power. He'd never felt anything so strong and he doubted he, or even Vegeta, could actually beat it.

"Angel?" Ciferlu asked as he gazed at her. "Are you still there?"

Her head turned slightly at the sound of the other's voice. She stared at him for a moment and then turned her focus back to Gohan. With a snarl she lunged at him with incredible speed. He left out a cry of pain as she swiped at him and slashed through his clothes with one hand slicing open his skin in six places. He stumbled back and ignored the pain as he tried to follow her movements but her fist impacted with his face a second later without him even seeing her move.

He came to a stop after only a few feet as Videl caught him. Shaking his head to clear it as he stood under his own power again he saw Vegeta walk out, green eyed, golden haired, and with blue energy snapping around his body, to join him. "This is going to be a problem." he said. "Even I can't take that... thing... on my own. You need to get over your power phobia right now, brat. As much as I don't like it we have to fight together."

"How?" Gohan asked. "I couldn't even see her move."

"Three on one gives us better odds." Videl said stepping up on Gohan's other side.

The teen shook his head. "No way, this is out of your league Videl."

The girl smirked. "I was saving this for our fight but I guess it can't be helped." she said, clenching her hands into fists as she flashed gold. And then she left out a cry as she focused and drew out her power. There was one spark of blue, then another, and then a flash as she ascended to the second level. Relaxing she unclenched her hands and smiled. "I can't let you boys show me up."

"V-Videl!" Gohan cried, wide eyed. "When did... how did... you're stronger than me!"

Videl smiled and shrugged. "It was about a month after I started training for the tournament." she said. "I knew it was the only way I could win so I pushed myself to reach it."

"Talk later!" Vegeta yelled as Angel suddenly charged them again. The three scattered quickly out of the way but a large foot still caught Vegeta in the stomach doubling him over. Videl used the Demon's pre-occupation with Vegeta to slip around behind her and slam a foot into her back. But the blow didn't do any noticeable damage and the Demon spun quickly slamming an elbow into her face and knocking her back.

Vegeta and Gohan both attacked at once but Angel blocked each of their punches with one arm while she grabbed Videl's ankle with the other. Before any of them could react she whipped Videl around and used her as a bat to smack both males in the head before throwing her into the ground. With a loud growl she then charged red energy in her hands and began lobbing blasts in the general direction of the three Sai-jins.

"Crap!" Hotaru cried as she quickly climbed to her feet, transformed, and powered up the Kinryoku. The Sai-jins were between her, the others, and where Angel stood. Several of the haphazard energy blasts would sail right passed the slowly standing Sai-jins and land near them. The Tanarian quickly threw up her arms and made the strongest ki barrier she could manage hopping it would be good enough. "Behind me!" she ordered.

Vadora quickly grabbed Goten and Trunks and pulled the stunned kids out of the way as she moved behind the barrier as well. And then a second later the explosions began as the energy blasts rained down around them. Hotaru couldn't see the three before her through the quickly growing dust cloud or her own focused mind as she fought to keep the energy barrier in place. It was a losing battle, however, and the field began to shrink as energy blasts hit and exploded quickly sapping away the woman's strength.

Time seemed to move in slow motion for Cheri as she watched, from a few feet in front of and beside Sakura, an energy blast hit the top edge of the barrier and get spliced. The lower portion exploded while the upper continued on at a new angle toward her general direction. For a fraction of a second fear gripped her and held her in place. And then the urge to get away sent energy to her feet as her eyes tracked the blast's new course so she could be sure to evade it.

Sakura, too, was watching the attack as though it were moving in slow motion. But unlike her friend she didn't have to track it to see where it was going. She could tell, clearly, exactly where it was going to hit. Right on top of her. She closed her eyes tight and held her breath waiting for the impact and hopping it'd be quick.

Her eyes snapped back open an instant later as a loud scream reached her ears sounding from just feet away. The energy had exploded against something and through the glare and smoke she couldn't tell what... until Cheri slammed into the ground beside her clutching her left arm against her chest and screaming.

Hotaru looked back at the sound as, thankfully, the energy barrage came to a stop. She feared the screams came from her daughter but soon saw that they didn't. Sakura was fine, or at least as fine as she had been earlier. But the girl's eyes were wide as she stared beside her and the woman turned her gaze. She must have seen the other girl, blood soaking her clothes and her hand, at the same time as Vadora because just as she saw her she heard the Sai-jin woman yell her daughter's name.

A loud crash drew the Tanarian's focus back to the fight and she saw that, still, the three were getting beaten badly by the transformed Angel. Things were not looking good.

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta's Lookout

Tatamo's attention had been drawn to Saiya City again. He'd felt deaths there, numerous ones, and an unusual power. But before he'd been able to find the cause of them his mind was drawn back to Gohan's battle again because the Demon's power had suddenly increased. -Azura, do you hear me?- he asked.

-I hear you Tatamo. And I see.- She said as the barrage of energy attacks began. -Things are worse than we first believed, it would appear. If they cannot win this battle then....-

Tatamo was sure he felt the woman cringe as Cheri swatted at a stray attack in order to save her friend and, most certainly, lost her hand in the process. -I'm going down there.- he said. -I'm not sure how much help even I will be in this affair but they need some sort of mircale.-

-Take care not to be killed.-

-Don't I always?-

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Vadora, Akemi, Goten, and Trunks were now all crowded around the injured Cheri trying to comfort her. All their eyes were wide at the sight of the damage done by the attack. Her left hand, from about the middle of her wrist, was completely gone. Her arm wasn't bleeding, the stump cauterized by the explosion. Which meant all the blood splattered on her clothes and arm had come from her hand itself. It was a small consolation to Vadora, it meant her daughter wouldn't bleed to death, but it didn't make her feel any better.

Right now her mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions. Seeing her daughter in such pain and so badly injured hurt her. But that emotional pain was warring with how proud she felt, too. In that split second when the attack was coming at them her daughter had leapt in the way of the attack without thought of her own safety, just that of her friend who couldn't move, couldn't avoid it, couldn't escape what would have surely killed her.

She was still trying to figure out what to do when suddenly someone appeared beside her and bent down over her daughter. Her mind still jumbled she turned to see who it was and it took a moment to recognize the man as the Sai-jin that had beaten Mijima in the tournament. Tatamo. According to Piccolo, THE Tatamo from over ten thousand years ago. Turning back to her daughter she saw him slip something into her mouth, then reach over and do the same for Sakura.

"S-Senzus?" she stammered, a bit surprised.

"Got them from Earth." he said. "Only reason I wasn't here faster." As he finished speaking Cheri's face relaxed and she let out a long sigh as the pain faded.

Sakura sat up and stared at her arms in shock. "This is... wow." she said. Then she turned to her friend. "Oh no, Cheri, your hand!"

The half Sai-jin glanced down at the missing appendage and then shrugged. "My hand for changing Akemi's vision." she said, smiling a little at her friend. "I think that's a pretty fair exchange."

"But...."

Suddenly Goten's face lit up. "Hey, I bet the dragon Gohan's talked about can bring back her hand!"

"Let's worry about that later." Cheri said, with a shake of her head, as she turned to the still on going battle. Even with the three of them fighting, all at level two, the transformed Angel was having little trouble with them. They had scratches and cuts all over, bruises too, but the Demon seemed unharmed. /That is, if there is a later./ the girl thought.

Tatamo walked out toward where the three Sai-jins stood together, panting, and trying to catch their breath. As he did he pulled off his weighted clothing and tossed it aside. The transformed Demon turned slightly to fix its gaze on the new arrival as he tensed. There was a rush of wind around him, dust swirled at his feet, and then in a flash of gold he transformed.

Vegeta's eyes widened in shock, right along with Videl's and Gohan's. /He's... he's stronger than I am? As just a Super Sai-jin?/ Vegeta thought, mind somewhat numb. But it slowly caught up to speed. /Of course he would be, his base is practically even with the Cyborgs..../ His train of thought trailed off there as he considered the increase in power he'd felt compared to the man's starting power and realized it wasn't nearly as great as it could have been.

"That's... incredible...." Videl said as she found her voice.

Tatamo shrugged. "I've had plenty of time to train." he said. "Though I really do have to ask you guys how you've increased the power of your transformation."

Gohan blinked. "You mean you don't know?"

The Sai-jin shook his head. "Until meeting you guys I've never seen the transformation yield anything but a twenty fold increase. But how about we talk later and fight now?" he finished as he saw Angel getting restless.

"He has a point." Vegeta said. "Less blabbering and more battling."

As the four powerful Sai-jins surged in at their opponent, hoping numbers would be enough to over power something so strong, Mijima turned her gaze to the distant Saiya City, an action that didn't go unnoticed by her brother. "What is it?" he asked.

"I've been monitoring the city." she said slowly. "I've picked up a power that's come and gone several times...."

"A power?" Sakura asked as she tried to focus on the city.

The Cyborg nodded and then suddenly a feeling of dread washed through her and her stomach knotted. "Krillin...?" 


	41. Unexpected Help

A/N: J - 902 million, he's just slightly over 45 million.

Chapter Forty-one - Unexpected Help

The smoke twister had turned into an energy twister and then vanished. In its place had stood a Maku who was changed from before, though not extensively. His red eyes, formerly just red irises, were now solid black. His white hair was longer and more of a light gray. His body had bulked up several pounds of muscle and his skin had taken on a faint blue tint.

Other than that, the only change had been a power boost. A fairly large and rather annoying one, as far as the two Sai-jins were concerned. With their current weakened states they were no match for his new power. They didn't think they could have matched him at full power either. It was obvious by his gloating that Maku didn't think so either.

"I don't know what I was so worried about." he laughed as he floated above the two downed Sai-jins. Immediately following his transformation he'd lunged at them and neither had been able to see, dodge, block, or counter any of his attacks. At the end of the assault they'd ended up on their backs inside a crater of about fifty feet in width.

Maku raised his arms and clenched his fists. "I am still me and my power is unmatched among Demons!" he called, cackling. "I don't think even Akuhei gained this much power from Lord Quietus!"

"I think this has gone far enough." Mikomi said softly from where she stood beside Kibito.

In the crater Goku groaned, holding his stomach. "Ugh. This isn't fun anymore."

"Agreed." Bardock replied arching his back a little where he lay and popping it. "What do you say we...." but his sentence was cut off as someone suddenly appeared in front of Maku, arm out stretched toward him. And then there was a bright flash of blue, a large wave of energy shot out and through Maku, and the Demon fell to the ground dead. "Uh... ok...."

"Is that... Mikomi?" Goku asked as he sat up, squinting up at the figure. "Amazing! Did you feel her power!? She's... she's stronger than us!"

"Well, she is the Supreme Kai." King Kai said as he walked over to the two Sai-jins who were now climbing to their feet. "You two did pretty good though. And look, the rest of them are scattering now that they know she is here." He then waved his hands in front of them real quick and their clothes glowed for a moment before being restored. "Now, if you'll excuse me." And with that he made his way over to where the Kai's were gathering.

The two Sai-jin's relaxed and their auras faded as their hair fell down and reverted to black once more. "So, now what?" Appla asked as she joined the pair.

Bardock shrugged. "I'm betting that's what they're figuring out." he replied. Turning toward the tear he frowned. "I just wish we knew how many got through, where they appeared, and how things were going on that side."

"Well, if the ones that attacked here are the best they've got Gohan and Prince, I mean King, Vegeta can take care of them should they be so unlucky as to find Planet Vegeta." Appla said.

"True...." Bardock began but stopped when Goku's voice suddenly cut him off.

"Oh no!" the younger Sai-jin cried. "In all the commotion I completely forgot!"

"What is it, Goku?" asked Appla.

"I saw some of those who went through the tear." Goku said, his expression turning serious.

Over away from the others the Kais were standing together talking. "So we have a Mazoku on our side this time." the East Kai said slowly.

"A lot of good that will do us." said the West Kai. "Kai blood is needed to create a Blood Crystal able to seal Quietus. None of us have the power to make a strong enough seal besides the Supreme Kai and she's the last one!"

"Fighting is, I believe, our only option." Mikomi said. "We will need to locate Dabura and this Supreme Mazoku, Nefaria, and do what we can with them to fight Quietus."

Zenryou frowned. "Even with Dabura, you and Shin were no match for Quietus two thousand years ago. I don't think exchanging Shin for a wet behind the ears Supreme Mazoku will improve matters."

Mikomi sighed. "Nor do I." she said. "But it is our only option."

"But how do you intend to fight Quietus?" asked the South Kai. "He's in Makai and doesn't seem interested in coming here this time, unlike before. You can't enter Hell which means you can't cross into the other Realm."

The Supreme Kai nodded. "That is a problem. One I'm hoping Dabura has a solution to. Perhaps he can draw the Demon out of Makai so that we can fight him the H.F.I.L. or he may have some means of allowing me to cross the Realms."

"I have another idea." King Kai said thoughtfully. "Why not send Goku and Bardock?"

The other Kais gazed down at the short Kai for a moment. It was the West Kai that finally spoke up. "What good would that do?" he nearly cried. "They couldn't even defeat that Demon! They have even less chance against Quietus than the Supreme Kai does!"

"Not necessarily." King Kai said, still running through his idea in his mind. "Both of them know my ultimate technique. The Spirit Bomb."

Mikomi furrowed her brow for a moment as she thought back in an attempt to recall the move. When she remembered she smiled a little. "I see what you're suggesting." she said after a moment. "If they go they can have Nefaria and Dabura keep Quietus busy while they create a Spirit Bomb powerful enough to destroy him."

"B-but... that's not... how could they...." stammered the West Kai.

"It's a long shot." Mikomi said. "But it is a possibility. The Spirit Bomb draws on the energy of others. Given enough time an attack of any magnitude is possible. Even one able to kill Quietus."

"And the energy is pure." King Kai added. "The opposite of Quietus, so it will have a greater effect on him."

Mikomi nodded. "Yes, I think this is our best...." she trailed off there. She'd turned to look for the pair of Sai-jins and had just spotted them charging for the tear at full speed. "What are they...?" she wondered. /They're going to go through!/ she realized with a start. "No!" she cried, flying after them quickly. "You must not....!" her protest was cut short as the two reached the tear and passed through.

"What are they doing!?" King Kai cried. "They can't just go off and...."

"Kibito!" Mikomi called down to him. "Come, we have to go get them."

"Yes, at once."

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Tatamo slipped under a claw swipe, just barely, and then rose up slamming an uppercut into Angel's jaw. The blow barely phased her but her eyes narrowed and she growled.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Vegeta cried as he slammed an equally ineffective foot into the back of her oddly shaped head.

"Keep her occupied!" Tatamo said as he quickly pulled back, her most recent swipe slicing him across the arm. "I can try and...." his words trailed off as the tear suddenly flashed and expanded.

"Oh, terrific." Videl muttered as two figures surged out. "Now who...."

"DAD!? GRANDPA!?" Gohan cried in shock.

"Gohan!?" Goku asked wide eyed as he spotted his son. "And Videl and Vegeta too!? Wow, so the tear came out here on Planet Vegeta?"

"Goku!" Mijima called. "There's something wrong in Saiya City... I can... I can feel it...." She shook her head. "Krillin and the others are there."

The two Sai-jins glanced at each other than looked off toward the city. "Oh man..." Goku said softly. "It's him! I knew I wasn't seeing things!"

Bardock nodded. "Let's go, we have some unfinished business to settle."

"Right." Goku responded before both Sai-jins vanished. No sooner had they gone the tear flared up and opened again, two more figures emerging.

"I don't see them." Kibito said, glancing around. "What the?" he cried, his eyes locking onto the transformed Angel.

Mikomi floated down to the Demon's level and held out an arm. "Away with you!" she called, blasting a beam of energy through its chest. Turning she quickly fired another shot behind her that took out the retreating Ciferlu.

"How... who are you?" Vegeta demanded.

"What's going on?" a voice called from above and behind them. Turning they saw Piccolo and Tien coming down to land, eyes locked on the new arrivals. "I thought I felt Goku and Bardock...."

"You did." Mikomi said with a sigh. "Where did they go?"

Vegeta snorted. "My question first."

The Supreme Kai nodded. "Very well then." she said. "I am Mikomi, currently the last remaining Supreme Kai. This is Kibito, a future Supreme Kai."

"Supreme... Kai...." Hotaru said slowly, then her eyes turned to Kibito. "So it's... true...." she said softly.

Mikomi turned her way and then nodded slightly. "Yes. We already know of the question you asked of the North Kai. It is true." she said. As she spoke she felt the energies of those around her and recognized the one she sought quickly. She walked forward to where the kids were gathered and knelt down and gazed at Akemi for a moment. "You're a brave group of kids, standing to fight here."

"Well, we can't just let them wreck my home." Trunks said, grinning.

"No, I guess you can't." Mikomi said with a small laugh. As she stood she turned to the others again. "Now, where have Goku and Bardock gone?" she asked. "They no longer belong here, this is no longer their world."

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, Orange Drive

Goku and Bardock appeared just a few feet above street level and gazed about them at the damage. "This is... horrible...." Bardock said slowly. He knew the city well and to see it in such a state was....

"KRILLIN!" Goku yelled, snapping Bardock out of his thoughts. He turned and saw his son now on the ground beside his long time friend. The Human wasn't in very good shape at all, to say the least. He had a sizable hole through his stomach as did the, dead, Sai-jin woman beside him.

"G-Goku?" Krillin managed, eyes opening a little. "I-if I'm d-dead already wh-why does it still h-hurt?" he asked. And then his eyes closed and his ki vanished.

He couldn't come back this time..... He'd already been wished back once by both Dragons..... "Krillin...." Goku said softly.

"His power is gone." Bardock said, scowling.

Goku knew what his father meant. The power they had tracked into the city, to Krillin's location, had moved on already. "I can't find him either." he said after a moment. "He's suppressing his power too low to track."

The elder Sai-jin nodded. "Yeah. But I can sense two powers I know well flying toward a third I know. They're almost to each other."

Goku turned the way his father was looking and nodded. He could only recognize the third power, Raditz. "Wait... I feel something...."

Bardock's eyes narrowed a little. He felt it too. "Damn it!" he cried. "He's right on top of them!" And then, once again, the pair vanished.

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, intersection of Berry Avenue and Corn Street

Senator Vegeta and Pug pulled to a stop as they reached Raditz and Nova's group. It was quite the ragtag collection. An orange man with wings and fifteen Changelings, all in their second forms, with powers ranging from 104,256 to 423,882. Nova's elites.

"I see your elites made it." Vegeta said.

Nova nodded. "Just landed not more than a minute ago." she said.

"Who is he?" asked Pug. "Is he with you as well?"

Raditz snorted. "Not exactly. Doro here is probably the only intelligent person from the entire would-be attack force." he explained. "Didn't even want to come here in the first place and surrendered after Nova took out Cold. Meanwhile the other two tried to attack me." He shook his head in pity.

"We need to be on our guard." Vegeta said. "We've been tailing someone who's...."

Suddenly two figures appeared in their midst startling everyone. None more-so than Raditz. "F-father? Goku?" he asked, completely shocked.

"Good, you guys are still ok." Bardock said, gazing at the city around them. "Damn, I can't find him, he's pushed his energy down again."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, we must have spooked him."

"But... how... how are you....?" Raditz continued. "I mean, you should be dead...."

Doro snorted. "Them and everyone else." he said.

The Sai-jin blinked. The alien had a point. He was just... surprised. Until now he'd only seen resurrected enemies. The thought of any of their friends or allies coming back hadn't even occurred to him.

"What's going on?" Senator Vegeta asked. "Do you know who Pug and I have been chasing?"

Bardock nodded. "Cell."

"CELL!?" Raditz cried, eyes going wide. "Are you sure?"

"I saw him going for the tear earlier." Goku said.

"But then we got sidetracked fighting a few Demon's in Otherworld." Bardock explained. "Mijima told us about the city and we sensed him on top of Krillin and...." he looked over to Raditz. "And Mango."

Raditz growled and clenched his hands into fists. He'd been so focused on Cold and then the approach of Vegeta he'd not even noticed his mate was in the city. He didn't have to ask, he could tell from his father's voice, they were both dead. "Damn it!" he cried, punching a fist into his hand.

"Two more added to the growing death toll." Vegeta said with a shake of his head. "Not even Cooler did this much damage."

"Death toll?" Goku asked. "Who else?"

Pug sighed. "Everyone. Everyone who came to the city."

"You can't be serious!" Raditz cried.

"I'm afraid he is." replied the Senator. "We recognized Yamcha, Sango, Toma, Tangerie, Bulma, Chaotzu, Kavar, and Akira before passing up Krillin and Mango's location to catch up with you guys."

"You guys should go." Goku said evenly. "Before Cell surfaces again, get out of here. Bardock and I will handle him."

"Big words for someone I've already killed once." a voice called from a near-by rooftop. Everyone turned and saw Cell, in his Perfect Form, standing at the edge of the roof, one leg up on the small wall there, leaning forward and resting his arms on his raised leg. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to see the two of you alive and well again. I thought you couldn't be brought back again, Goku."

"Alive and...." Bardock started as he turned toward Goku. That's when he finally noticed it. "G-Goku, your halo!"

"Huh?" Goku wondered, reaching up above his head. His hand reached around for a moment but found nothing. "Hey, what? It's gone?" He said in surprise as he turned to face his father. "Hey! Yours is gone too!"

Bardock reached up as well and felt around above his head but didn't find anything. "Hey... are we... alive again?" he asked, blinking.

"You guys come through the tear?" Doro asked.

"Huh? Yeah, why?" replied Goku.

The orange man snorted. "There's your answer. The tears are laced with restorative energies that revive those who pass through them."

"Well, now that that conundrum is solved." Cell began. "I think it's time I finish up here and kill the lot of you."

The two Sai-jins were about to turn to face Cell again when they felt a power churning between and behind them and turned to look. Raditz had his hands clenched into fists so tight blood was dripping from his fingers. His eyes were narrowed into thin slits and locked on Cell. There was a sudden burst of white as his aura flared to life and his power climbed quickly.

"Don't even think about it, Raditz." Bardock said. "Believe me, I know how you feel but...." The elder Sai-jin's words were cut short as a powerful burst of energy pushed him and Goku away from the long haired Sai-jin. A burst of energy accompanied by a flash of gold as Raditz transformed and then charged Cell.

"Wha-!? No way, when did he...." Bardock's cry trailed off as the shock passed and realized his son was heading right toward his death. He flashed gold himself and then vanished re-appearing an instant later beside Raditz with a hand firmly gripping his son's arm and holding him back. "You have to keep your head." Bardock said sternly. "Charging in blindly wont get you anywhere."

The other Sai-jin began to calm down and relax, his aura becoming more stable as he did. "I can't just...."

"You can and you will." Bardock said, letting go of the other's arm. "Believe me, I know how you feel." he glanced back at Goku for a moment before continuing. "We both do. But you have to keep a clear head."

Raditz sighed and then nodded.

"It doesn't matter if he's first or last." Cell said, smirking. "Either way he'll die. Then I'll kill all of you while Angel finishes off that brat and the others."

"Not likely." Goku said as he floated forward. "I've gotten a lot stronger since last time."

Cell smirked. "As have I." And then he charged at Goku.

The Sai-jin quickly transformed and slipped around Cell's punch before slamming a fist down into the back of his head and knocking him into the street below. "Not by enough." Goku called down.

Before Cell could start to stand Bardock pointed an arm down at him and shot off a stream of golden energy. It hit right on top of him and then exploded completely vaporizing everything in a half block radius. "And that is the end of him." he said, lowering his arm and turning back toward the others again. "...Changelings?!" 


	42. Return to Otherworld

Chapter Forty-two - Return to Otherworld

"They're with us." Raditz said as he reverted back to normal. He motioned over to Nova. "She's the new leader of the Changelings. It's a... long story."

"One best told later." Senator Vegeta said. "Now that we've taken care of the biggest threats in the city we...."

He trailed off as two figures suddenly materialized. "Supreme Kai?" Bardock asked, blinking. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to take you back to Otherworld." she said. "The dead have no place in...."

"Um, but we're not dead." Goku said. "Not any more. See?" he pointed above his head where the halo should have been.

Kibito blinked. "But... you were just...."

"Coming through the tear revived us." Bardock said, shrugging. "So, now what do we do? I don't sense that creature the others were fighting and there's only a few hundred Demons left that I can sense. Besides, fighting everyone here will only get us so far. We have to take out the source of this attack if we want to end this."

Mikomi nodded. "Yes, I agree." she said. "We were discussing that very matter before you're... depature. I think we reached a possible solution to our situation. We would like the two of you to travel into Hell and locate Dabura and Nefaria. They can lead you to Quietus and there, while they keep him occupied, you can create a Spirit Bomb cappable of defeating him. It is, I believe, our only hope."

"I don't know...." Goku said, frowning a little. "The Spirit Bomb's never actually worked...."

"No, it worked once." Bardock said. "I used it to defeat Sanil. But Goku's right, one out of three isn't exactly great odds. Zarbon and Freeza both survived being hit with Spirit Bombs. Still...." The Sai-jin grinned. "I can't pass up a chance like this. Fighting this Quietus guy will be fun."

Goku nodded in agreement, grinning as well. "Yeah. I can't wait to see how strong he is."

Mikomi blinked. "I don't think you understand just how powerful Quietus is, or the situation we are in."

Pug laughed. "I can assure you, they understand perfectly. It's why they're so excited." he said. "It's a Sai-jin thing."

The Supreme Kai remained silent for a time as she gazed at the two Sai-jins. She knew of their fighting spirit only through word of mouth, never having witnessed it first hand. Only the devastation it often left in its wake. Ones who craved only battle and challange often had little care or sympathy to those who stood in their way. These current Sai-jins, however, seemed different than the ones of old. "Come." she said, holding out a hand. "Everyone grab on to me or someone touching me and I will take us back to the tear."

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

"So... what do you think all that was about?" Videl asked shortly after the two latest arrivals had suddenly flown off after the two Sai-jins.

"Not entirely sure." Piccolo said, gazing off toward the city. His eyes suddenly narrowed. "What!?"

"Piccolo? What is it?" Gohan asked.

Vegeta growled. "Cell. He's in the city. He must have supressed his power and snuck in."

Hotaru closed her eyes and focused, stretching out her mind to link with Yamcha's. She stood that way for nearly a minute before dropping to her knees and punching the ground shattering the rock beneath her fist. "Damnit!"

"Mom? Mom, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, walking over to her mother. "Mom?"

"It's the others, isn't it?" Mijima asked softly. "Your link with Yamcha...."

"I can't link." she said. "He's... not there."

Akemi walked up on Hotaru's other side. "What do you mean 'not there'? Where'd he go?" she asked.

Sakura swallowed and shook her head. "Akemi." she said, walking over to her sister. She knew only one thing could break the telepathic link created in a Tanarian wedding. "Come on, let's go over here." she managed, as she lead her sister away.

"What about everyone else?" Tien asked.

Vegeta scowled. "I can only sense Nova, Raditz, Pug, and father...." he said, trailing off as he felt three sudden power spikes. The first was Raditz, apparently he'd even reached Super Sai-jin now. The second were Goku and Bardock, and their powers brought a small smirk to his face before quickly vanishing again. "I can't say if that means they're all dead or not, though." he finished at last.

Piccolo's scowl softened as he felt Cell's energy vanish. "I did learn something interesting from Slug." he said after a moment. "Seems Raven is behind this after all." This caught Vegeta's interest and the Namek quickly informed him of what Slug had told him.

Piccolo had just finished when suddenly there was a burst of wind and flash of light and then a large group of people were standing only feet away from them. "Whoa, that was different." Goku said as he released Mikomi's hand.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Raditz mumbled, holding his stomach.

Mikomi smiled and laughed a little. "I always forget that traveling that way doesn't sit well with everyone." she said. "It takes some getting used to."

"Whoa, look at all the Changelings." Goten said, wide eyed.

"Is that... everyone?" Mijima asked as she looked over the group. When no one answered right away she clenched her hands and looked away.

"But... how?" asked Vadora.

"Cell." Senator Vegeta said, shaking his head. "Pug and I trailed him through the city always one step behind...."

"Who all did we lose?" his son asked.

"That I could recognize... too many." he replied, not really wanting to give a full answer.

"Who?" the younger Vegeta pressed.

It was Pug that answered. "Toma, Tangerie, Kavar, Akira, Sango, Krllin, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and... Queen Bulma."

"M-mom?" Trunks stammered.

"No way...." Cheri said softly, gazing up at the adults.

Hotaru just punched the ground again, several more times.

"Matters are almost settled here." Piccolo said, breaking into the silence. "There are still attackers left but not many. We can take them easily enough and then bring back those who died."

Bardock nodded. "We'll be leaving that to you guys." he said. "Goku and I have other business to take care of."

"Huh? What other business?" asked Gohan.

"We're going after the guy responsible for this." Goku said. "We'll take him down and put an end to the entire thing for good."

"We should come with you." Gohan said. "Hotaru and the others can deal with things here."

Mikomi shook her head. "No. This is beyond your abilities."

Vegeta snorted. "I sensed them in the city." he said. "All three of us are stronger. It's kind of pathetic, really. Besides, I'd say five is better than two."

"Well, they do have a bit of a point." Bardock said. "I don't know about them coming all the way with us but you could certainly use more help in Otherworld if any more of the stronger Demons show up. The Grand Kai, Pikkon, and Olibu can't do everything by themselves."

The Supreme Kai stood in thought for a moment, contemplating the situation. "Alright." she said at last. "They can accompany us as far as the H.F.I.L., but I will not agree to them going further. They will remain there to deal with those Demons already in Otherworld and those who come through."

She then turned to Tatamo. "If I am not mistaken you are the Guardian of this world, correct?"

Vegeta turned his gaze to Tatamo. /Guardian? Of course, that explains how he's still around after all this time./

"I am." he said with a nod.

"I had not known you were so powerful." she said. "I have a favor to ask of you. Bardock is right, our forces in Otherworld are thin. Kibito and myself will be needed to escort the others to the entry into Hell. I believe Zenryou, Pikkon, and Olibu can manage in Otherworld itself but Heaven has been unprotected since this attack began...."

Tatamo nodded. "I would be glad to lend a hand."

"Thank-you." she said with a nod. "We should be leaving quickly."

Vegeta nodded and then turned to his father. "I'm going to leave you in charge until we get back." he said. "Coordinate with whatever troops we still have left to wipe out the forces that are left."

The Senator nodded. "I'll take care of it." he said.

"What about us dad?" Trunks asked.

Vegeta looked down at his son then over toward Goten, Cheri, Sakura, and Akemi, and thought. "Go to the palace." he said. "Your grandfather can head up protecting everything else but I'm going to leave you guys in charge of the defending the palace."

"We'll move survivors from Saiya City to the palace for safety." the Senator said thoughtfully. "Round up as many as we can. The fewer who die, the better."

"Alright then, let's do this." Vegeta said, turning toward the tear.

ZZZ

Otherworld, Grand Kai's Mansion

With the departure of Goku, Bardock, and the Supreme Kai the Demons who had previously pulled back had gotten their courage back and charged in again. The battle since then had been fierce and relentless. Numerous dead warriors lay scattered about, unconcious, and a near equal number of Demon corpses lay among them.

Pikkon, Olibu, and Zenryou were the only unscathed warriors left. There were quite a few still uninjured, just with torn clothing, but there were even more who were completely exhausted and had to pull out of the fight. The lower Kais included. Those no longer able to battle had retreated to the Grand Kai's mansion which Appla and Sora were defending while the others cut through the still incoming attackers. More than once Zenryou or Pikkon had had to cut in to help them with some of the more powerful attackers.

"There's no end to this!" Sora cried as she kicked away two Demons who had charged her. "The more we take out the more take their place. Surely they must have some limit to their forces."

"They do, but not a small one." said King Kai from where he lay against the mansion resting. "There are trillions of Oni here Shinkai. Likely just as many Demons live in Makai."

"If we don't think of something soon," Olibu began as he flew by them, shooting Demons out of the sky with energy blasts. "We'll run out of energy to fight with."

Appla smirked. "I say it's time to show these freaks that my mate and my son aren't the only ones to be afraid of." She let out a cry as she threw her arms and head back, a burst of golden energy pushing away the Demons around her as she transformed. The sudden surge of power quickly caught the attention of the majority of attackers and they turned to locate the source instantly recognizing the form as the one the other two had used.

Some pulled back but others turned from their current opponent and charged toward Appla. She saw them coming as she clenched her fists and braced herself. As the closest came within twenty yards of her she smirked and called out. "...SUPER KAIO KEN!" There was a thunderous crack and bright flash of red as her aura flared out savagely, the rush of energy pushing back everyone within a hundred yards.

Zenryou and Pikkon, floating side by side, both reached an arm up over their faces to block out the glaring light and rush of wind and dust that was now racing across the planet. The outwashing power drove Pikkon back several yards before he managed to stablize himself and he watched on in shock as Demons as far away as a three hundred yards were blown off their feet. And then the glare began to fade away as Appla's red aura shrank down to a more normal size.

"In-incredible." King Kai said softly, blinking as he pulled himself out of the bushes he'd been blown into. "She can safely use and control the Kaio Ken while transformed... not even Goku or Bardock were able to pull that off...."

Olibu stared at Appla in shock for a moment and then grinned. "Kaio Ken times 10!" he called, his own aura turning red as his power quickly climbed.

A few dozen yards away Pikkon also let out a cry as his aura flared up and blew his weighted clothing off of him. "Let's clear them out!" he called to nods from the other two.

At this point those who'd pulled back after Appla's transformation turned around and fled, as did a number of others. Appla turned toward one group that was making a last bid at attacking the Grand Kai's mansion. "Kamehameha!" The blue energy flared up between her hands and then surged forward nearly a hundred yards in diameter incinerting the Demons before they even realized it was coming.

Olibu spotted a group of Demons fleeing from the three warriors who had just revealed themselves to be more powerful then expected. Instead, they were targetting a group of worn out fighters near the edge of the battle. He thrust both arms out toward them and quickly charged a large ball of ki.

"Super Scatter Bolt!" he cried, shooting the blast off. It only went about twenty feet before exploding into hundreds of energy blasts that shot off toward the group of Demons. Some managed to dodge the incoming blasts but most were impaled and killed.

Pikkon, meanwhile, turned his focus on those who were fleeing the planet. If past experience was any indication they would rally and return again unless effectively detered. Their return was not acceptable given the current state of the gathered warriors. "Thunder Flash Attack!" he cried, firing the fire like stream of energy at the backs of nearly ten thousand retreating Demons. The stream hit and killed nearly three quarters of them, the rest fleeing even faster.

In a matter of moments all that remained were the three warriors. Appla left out a sigh as she let the Kaio ken fade, though she remained transformed. "Hopefully that keeps them away long enough for us to regroup." she said as she landed.

"It might at that." Zenryou said with a smile. "Though no doubt they will return in greater number."

"Well, we'll be ready for them." Pikkon said as he and Olibu joined the group.

"You three might." Sora said, also walking up to them, and still transformed as well. "But I'm not so sure about everyone else. Even I am feeling the strain of fighting so many attackers. There are just too many of them, I don't think we can hold out long."

"Well, once Mikomi gets Goku and Bardock back here we'll be in better shape." Zenryou said. "With luck, us taking the battle to them will throw them off their game some."

"What do you mean?" Appla asked. The Grand Kai was about to answer when a red light suddenly bathed the planet. The gathered warriors looked up and saw a large ball of red and black Ki gathering above the head of.... "A Changeling!?"

Up in the sky the Changeling smirked. "Imagine my surprise when, shortly after I die, all Hell breaks lose. Literally. It took me a while to find out what was going on and, once I did, I decided to lend a hand. I will turn this planet, and everyone on it, into dust! And then, then I shall return to the living world and kill those rotten MONKEYS!" With that he brought his arm down and fired the now massive Death Ball at the planet.

"Holy crap, that's...." Appla said in shock.

Zenryou shot up into the air and met the attack head on, thrusting his arms out and catching the energy in both hands. As the energy made contact with his hands his eyes widened slightly. "Oh dear." he said as he fought to stop the attack's descent. He was managing to slow it, though not very quickly.

Pikkon charged up and joined him in trying to push it off. Olibu and Appla, once again using the Super Kaio Ken, soon joined in as well. With the four of them working together they began to push off the powerful attack until they heard a shout from above and felt a force pushing them back down again. The Changeling was now pushing back trying to force his attack down.

"It's too much!" Appla cried as she strained to push the attack up.

"Pikkon, leave us to this." Zenyou said. "Go up there and give that trouble maker a smack upside the head."

Pikkon shook his head. "No, I can not leave, you wont be able to hold it off on your own."

A second later their feet touched the surface of the planet. Sora watched, along with the others, as they began to be pushed into the ground. None of them could do anything. The Changeling was too strong for any of them to overpower and even all of them together wouldn't be enough to drive off the attack. And then she saw the tear, only a few dozen feet behind the Changeling, suddenly expand.

There was a resounding crack a moment later, a crash, and then the Death Ball surged off into the sky through a billowing dust cloud. "What happened?" Olibu wondered as he tried to peer through the dust.

"Still causing trouble, Kuriiza?" a voice, one that sounded oddly like Vegeta, asked from inside the dust cloud.

"Kuriiza?" Goku's voice. "He looks a lot like Frieza...."

"His son." replied a new voice, a female one that sounded like Videl. "He showed up a few days ago trying to cause problems. It's a long story."

Suddenly seven forms emerged from the dust walking toward the four warriors who'd repelled the Death Ball. Bardock on the left, Goku on the right, and Mikomi in the middle. And then behind them were Gohan, Videl, Kibito, and someone that none of them recognized.

"I hadn't known Frieza had a son. Especially one that strong." Bardock said.

Gohan shook his head. "He ate one of those fruit Sanil had." he explained. "The whole thing."

"Ah." the Sai-jin said, nodding.

And then the dust cloud behind them was blown apart by a shockwave and everyone glanced back to find Kuriiza's fist smashed into Vegeta's face though the golden haired Sai-jin was unphased. "Come on, Kuriiza." Vegeta said, smirking. "Why waste our time? We both know you can't beat me." 


	43. A Desperate Situation

A/N: Parts of this recap the last chapter, but from the perspective of the kids, so expect some Deja vu. Also, Jeff, no time to explain mastering SSJ to Tatamo right now, too much war happening. And Vegeta's in 'business' mode, and besides, he's not the type to make a public display about that sort of thing.

Chapter Forty-three - A Desperate Situation

"You know, I think I'm a bit lost." Trunks said as he watched the two latest arrivals fly off toward the city. "Who are those two big Gotens and what's a 'Supreme Kai'?"

"You heard Mijima." Cheri said. "The one is Goku. Which means the other one is Bardock. Goten's father and grandfather."

"Really?" Goten asked, eyes widening a little.

"That'd be my guess." she replied.

Further conversation ended there as a surprised cry from Piccolo drew their attention. "Piccolo? What is it?" Gohan asked.

Vegeta growled and answered in the Namek's place. "Cell. He's in the city. He must have supressed his power and snuck in."

As Hotaru closed her eyes and focused, stretching out her mind to link with Yamcha's, Sakura looked up at her worried. She knew her dad was no match for Cell, even as strong as he was. /He has to be ok. He has to be. The only one Akemi saw die was me so he..../

Her thoughts trailed off as her mother dropped to her knees and punched the ground shattering the rock beneath her fist. "Damnit!"

"Mom? Mom, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, walking over to her mother. "Mom?"

"It's the others, isn't it?" Mijima asked softly. "Your link with Yamcha...."

"I can't link." she said. "He's... not there."

Akemi walked up on Hotaru's other side. "What do you mean 'not there'? Where'd he go?" she asked.

Sakura swallowed and shook her head. "Akemi." she said, walking over to her sister. "Come on, let's go over here." she managed, as she lead her sister away.

Akemi looked up at Sakura confused as they moved away from the adults. "But why? What's going on Sakura?"

Sakura blinked away the tears and shook her head again to clear it but didn't answer. She wasn't sure how to answer. She couldn't seem to formulate words anymore. At least, not any that made any kind of sense in her head.

"Sakua?" Akemi asked softly, her voice worried and pleading. "What is it? What's happened?" she pulled on her sister's arm as she asked. "Tell me!"

The older girl left out a sigh as she laid a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Mom couldn't contact dad because... he's gone."

"But gone where?"

Sakura fought to find the words to answer the question but she couldn't. She couldn't find them and she didn't want to say them, to admit them. "Otherworld." she managed at last.

"Otherwor...." her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. "He's... he's...."

Sakura just nodded. And then a sudden rush of wind and flash of light drew her and Akemi's attention back toward the others. She could recognize the four who'd recently come through the tear as well as Raditz, Nova, Trunks' grandfather, and Pug, but there were also a lot of others too. Big and rather scary looking. But since they weren't fighting with the others she figured they were on the same side.

Akemi was barely paying attention to the large group that had suddenly appeared. She was instead trying to figure out why her visions hadn't warned he about her father. "Why didn't I see it?" she asked softly. "Why didn't I see it so I could stop it?"

"Huh?" her sister asked, turning back to her. "See what?"

"What happend to dad." Akemi replied. "If I'd seen it we could have stopped it just ilke we stopped you dying!"

Sakura squeezed her shoulder and shook her head. "We don't know that. And... maybe it hadn't originally happened. I mean, you didn't see Cheri lose her hand either."

"I guess...." she said, turning her gaze toward the others again at last. Some of them where heading for the tear now, among them the ones Trunks had called 'big Gotens'. As she watched them a memory tickled at the back of her mind. "That's them!" she suddenly cried as they vanished through the tear again.

"What?"

"The big Gotens! That's them! The ones from the other vision! Remember? I saw two that reminded me of Goten. It was them, I'm sure of it!"

ZZZ

"You sure we shouldn't go over there?" Trunks asked for the second time since Sakura and Akemi walked off.

"I'm sure." Cheri said. "They need some time alone for now."

The two of them and Goten turned back to the others again at the sound of Vegeta's voice. "Who all did we lose?"

"That I could recognize... too many." Trunks' grandfather replied.

"Who?" the younger Vegeta pressed.

It was Pug that answered. "Toma, Tangerie, Kavar, Akira, Sango, Krllin, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and... Queen Bulma."

"M-mom?" Trunks stammered. /But... why would she have been in the city?/ he thought. /Pug has to be mistaken, she wouldn't have left the palace, Toma and Tangerie wouldn't have let her. But... he did say they were gone too..../ He looked up, startled, as he felt a hand on his back. He saw Cheri on his left and Goten was standing in front of him peering up at him with sad and worried look.

"You ok?" Goten asked.

"I... I'll be ok." Trunks said.

"Maybe we should all just head back to the palace." Cheri said quitely. "Let the adults handle things from here."

Trunks shook his head. "No. I want to do something. I can't just sit around doing nothing."

"I'm going to leave you in charge until we get back." Vegeta said to his father. "Coordinate with whatever troops we still have left to wipe out the forces that are left."

The Senator nodded. "I'll take care of it." he said.

"What about us, dad?" Trunks asked, looking up at him. He wanted something, anything, to do to help.

Vegeta looked down at his son then over toward Goten, Cheri, Sakura, and Akemi, and thought. "Go to the palace." he said. "Your grandfather can head up protecting everything else but I'm going to leave you guys in charge of the defending the palace."

"We'll move survivors from Saiya City to the palace for safety." the Senator said thoughtfully. "Round up as many as we can. The fewer who die the better."

"Alright then, let's do this." Vegeta said, turning toward the tear.

As that group walked off Trunks turned toward where Sakura and Akemi were and made his way over to them, Cheri and Goten right behind. "Dad wants us to guard the palace while everyone else takes care of the rest of the attackers." he said as he reached them. "If you guys don't want to help that's ok. I'm sure Chao...." he caught himself as he remembered Chaotzu was one of the ones his grandpa and Pug and seen.

"I want to help." Akemi said, scowling slightly. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we'll go back to the palace then." Trunks said as he lifted into the air. "Come on."

The other four floated up after him and then they took off. As they flew Goten came up along side Cheri. "You ok to fight?" he asked. "What about your hand?"

"I'm ok." the girl replied. "I can still fight with just one hand, don't worry. Besides, all the tough guys are gone now."

ZZZ

Earth, South City, 5th Avenue

"Little buggers are everywhere." Autoro growled as he peered around the corner.

"More of them?" asked Ward.

"Yeah, about six dozen of them. This is getting tiresome. There has to be a way to put an end to them all at once."

Gard snorted. "And how exactly would you go about doing something like that?" he asked. "There's just way too many of them."

Autoro grinned inside his helmet. "You cut off the source." he said. "Simple as that."

"Yeah, real simple." Jairel said sarcastically. "Except for one little detail. We don't know what or where that source is."

"Acutally, I have a theory." Autoro replied as he moved away from the corner of the building and turned to face the other three. "That explosion up in North City happened just before these things started to show up. And the majority of them were there at first until it spread world wide. But that is definitely the epicenter."

"North City isn't exactly close, you know." Ward said with a frown. "How exactly do you propose we get there in one piece? The more time passes the stronger these Zombies seem to be getting."

"The ones that are still functional, anyway." added Jairel. Those few they'd encountered before that had been unmoving hadn't been the last. They'd run across several such groups with no apparent cause to their state.

"Simple." Autoro replied. "Fly."

Gard shook his head. "Fly? That far? Uh-uh. No way. Maybe you can be we'd tire out way too fast."

"Not with ki, you imbicle." Autoro corrected. "We're going to borrow one of the EDF transport ships. Why do you think we've been heading in this direction all this time?"

Jairel blinked. "You want us to help you steal an EDF shuttle?"

"Not steal, borrow. We'll give it back when we're done."

"I don't know...."

"Hey, one way or another I'm going to North City. You bozos can either help out and come with me or stay here and keep fighting this endless sea of undead on your own."

"I'm in." Ward said.

Jairel glaned over to him. "Coward."

"You say coward, I say smart." said Gard. "I'm in."

Jairel sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll help too."

Autoro gave a nod. "Good. Now, the EDF Transport Center is just another six blocks. Hopefully we don't have to deal with any actual Humans when we get there."

"At this point, I'd rather deal with Humans than Zombies." Gard said.

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace

"The military is in general disaray at this point." Senator Vegeta said as he gazed at the screen of the small computer in his hand. "Reports of functional units are sporadic and really thinly spread out. Even with the chaos the kids induced the attackers still managed to pull together a fairly cohesive strategy."

"I can only imagine how bad it'd be if they hadn't been there to head them off." said Piccolo.

"So, how should we handle this?" asked Raditz. "These Demons aren't just in Saiya City, they're spreading out everywhere."

"We'll need to split up into six groups." said the Senator. "Gainin, Mijima, Piccolo, Raditz, and myself will will each head up one attack group and take 3 of Nova's elites along with us. That should give each group enough power to clear out everyone without any real trouble. My group will clear out Saiya City. Piccolo will head east, Gainin west, Raditz north, and Mijima to the south. Hotaru, you're in charge of the Saiya City evacuation group. Take Nova, Pug, Tien, and Vadora with you."

"Sounds good, but what about me?" Doro asked.

"Stay here." Vegeta said. "Guard the perimiter of the palace. Anyone you can stop before they meet the kids is one less they'll have to fight."

"Fine, but I'm not sticking my neck out there. I just got it back."

Vegeta shook his head and turned from the orange alien. He was just about to give the order to move out when he heard a shrill beeping come from Pug's scouter. "What is it?" he asked, turning to face him.

"I set the satelites to monitor Saiya City." Pug said. "They've picked up a building power there. It just broke the three million mark and it's still going up...."

Hotaru reached out her senses and soon found the familiar and quickly building power. "Damn him!" she cried.

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Saiya City, intersection of Berry Avenue and Corn Street

A breeze blew across the city block sized crater kicking up dust and hiding the bottom of it from view. And then a new gust blew through, coming from the crater's center, and blew all the dust away. There, at the bottom, was a small, mutli-colored, pulsing blob that was quickly growing in size and changing shape.

The blue, red, and white mass began to turn green in places as it began to lengthen. And then a black plate formed over part of it as legs and arms emerged. A few moments later Cell was laying on his back in the crater, staring up at the sky, and scowling. He raised his hands up and gazed at them as he gauged his power. "Hmm, it hasn't increased any." he said softly. "I guess I can't draw any more power from the cells in me. No matter. I will find a way to kill them all."

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace

"How the hell did he survive?" Raditz wondered aloud. "Father took out a good chunk of the city when he blasted him."

Piccolo shook his head. "I don't know, but it's not good. Everyone who could stand against him has left. And my power's barely recovered from fighting Slug."

"We have to try and stop him." Hotaru said. "We have no choice. We can't just let him have free run of the city."

"What's going on?" Nova asked. Her elites were all glancing at each other in confusion, not sure what was going on either. The woman understood that they'd sensed something, an ability she hadn't even known possible previously, but didn't know what.

"Cell is still alive." Pug said. "Apparently he wasn't killed after all."

"But... how? There was nothing left at the bottom of that crater."

Raditz sighed. "He can regenerate even better than a Namek can." he explained. "One cell is all he needs. So long as it remains intact he can fully reform his entire body."

"We need a strategy." said the Senator. "We can't just go blindly charging in to fight him. We'd stand no chance."

"We stand no chance either way." Mijima replied. "The best we can do is try and, at the very least, keep him occupied until the others get back."

"I hate to admit it." Tien said. "But she's right. And I'm in the same condition as Piccolo. I used up a lot of power stalling Slug earlier."

"Well, I'd love to get a little payback for seven years ago, and for Sango." Gainin said. "No idea how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to give it my best shot."

Hotaru nodded slowly and slghtly. "Sango, Krillin, Yamcha, Akira, Kavar, and everyone else." she said. "For their sakes we have to do something. Stall him, stop him, something."

"Agreed." replied Mijima.

"Now hold on just a second." Piccolo interupted. "We have to think this through. Like Vegeta said if we just charge in blindly...."

"Who said anything about blindly?" Raditz cut in. "We know exactly what we're up against and exactly what we're doing."

Gainin smirked. "Damn straight." he said. "Win or lose, live or die, all that matters is keeping him busy."

"And if we get lucky along the way and manage to kill him," began Hotaru. "Well, that's even better."

"But we're not kidding ourselves here." said Mijima. "We don't expect to win this fight." And with that she flew off with Gainin, Raditz, and Hotaru right beside her.

"Gah, damn stupid impulsive people!" Piccolo yelled as he quickly shot after them.

Vegeta turned to the others. "Pug, Tien, Vadora, stay here with Nova's elites." he said. "It's not much extra protection but it's better than nothing."

"Yes sir." Vadora and Pug said together.

Vegeta nodded and turned to Nova. "You're free to stay as well. Like they said, this is certainly going to be a one-way trip."

"Thank-you for the concern but I'm going to help any way I can." she said.

The Senator gave her a small smirk and nod and then the two shot off as well.

ZZZ

Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace, Entry Hall

Trunks was pacing back and forth inside the large entry hall, from one end to the other, while the other kids sat along one of the walls staring either at the floor, the ceiling, or him. "Trunks, you're going to wear a hole into the floor." Sakura called to him as he walked by for the twenty-sixth time.

"I can't sit down." Trunks said. "My mind wont stop racing...."

"I know how you feel." Sakura said softly. "But pacing around isn't going to do anything. Besides, everything's going to work out, I just know it will. Your dad and the others will stop whoever is behind this and then everyone can be wished back. You know, like the future you and I were after the Cell Games."

"Yeah, Gohan's with them!" Goten cheered. "He beat Cell so there's no way they can beat him!"

Trunks frowned and continued to pace. "But that Angel lady was stronger than all of them!" he said. "And she's just an underling. Man... what if... if they can't win?"

"They will." Cheri said, her eyes still locked on her feet. "They've always won before. Freeza, Recoome, Slug, Cooler, Cell. No one's been able to beat them." she looked up then. "And they've got Goku and Bardock with them. Mom said they're the most powerful Sai-jins she's ever known. Probably the most powerful Sai-jins ever."

"Dad's stronger. Didn't you hear him? Him and Videl and Gohan are all stronger than the two of them now."

Their conversation was then interupted by a loud and persistent rumbling. After which Goten grinned and scratched the back of his head. "All this fighting is making me hungry. How about we go find mom and get some food?"

"Goten... your stomach is out of control, even for a Sai-jin." Cheri said, smiling and laughing a little, her spirits somewhat lifted by the moment. But then they came crashing down again as she felt something washing over her. "What... is that?" she wondered, looking off in the direction of Saiya City.

Sakura looked too as she felt it. The two boys soon doing the same. Akemi tried to find what they felt but her ki sensing skills weren't fully developed yet and she couldn't sense it. "What is it?" she asked the others.

"A... high power." Sakura replied. "It's... stronger than mom...."

"It has to be Cell." Cheri said slowly. "He survived somehow afterall...."

Goten gulped. "What do we do?" he asked. "Gohan and the others aren't here anymore!"

No one answered as they felt those still outside, the only ones left other than them to defend the planet, fly off toward the power they'd sensed. Finally Sakura sighed as she pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them resting her chin on her knees. "There's nothing we can do." she sad. "I hate this. I hate being helpless, being unable to do anything to help our families or protect them...." 


	44. Distortion in the HFIL

Stewart: Piccolo's at about 104 million. For comparison's sake, note that Appla (with SSJ and Super Kaioken) is around 102 million, SSJ Gohan is about 411 million, and the Grand Kai is about 508 million.

jeff: Vegeta's SSJ max is 445 million. The 393 was from being worn out and tired from fighting Hotaru. Base Vegeta's just short of 6 million (75x increase), his father is about 16 million. As for the power difference between Goku, Bardock, and the others this will be fully detailed in due time. :)

Chapter Forty-four - Distortion in the H.F.I.L.

The Changeling removed his fist from Vegeta's face and growled. "Well, at least this proves you're not as invincible as you boast." Kuriiza said. "It's a pity I didn't get to kill you myself, but I suppose dead is dead."

"Dead?" Vegeta scoffed. "Me? Are you as blind as you are dumb? Do you see a halo over my head?"

Kuriiza blinked and looked up above Vegeta's head. Sure enough he was halo free. He then glanced behind the Sai-jin at the others and noticed that they, too, lacked halos. "What...?"

"We're here to put a stop to the likes of you." Vegeta replied. "Once and for all."

Meanwhile Mikomi's focus was on the others she was with. Namely Gohan. "Fruit?" she asked. She had a feeling she knew what the boy was referring to but she didn't want to believe it was possible. "What kind of fruit?"

"Huh? Oh, some sort of fruit from something called the 'Tree of Might' I think." he replied.

Her gaze turned back from the Sai-jins to where Vegeta was easily avoiding all of Kuriiza's attempted attacks. /So, I was right. But how? I thought all of the Shinseiju Seeds that had found their way to the Mortal Plane had been destroyed..../ She shook her head and began walking forward. "That is enough, Vegeta." she said. "I will take it from here."

Vegeta lowered his arm, he'd been about to punch the Changeling, and Kuriiza turned to face her. "And just who are you?" the Changeling demanded.

"I am Mikomi. The Supreme Kai."

Kuriiza's eyes widened. He'd been warned that the Supreme Kai was the most powerful being in Shinkai and that fighting her was suicide. He hadn't expected someone so... small. She was only a little taller than him. He took a step back and jerked as he bumped into something. Turning to look he saw her standing there now.

"It is rude to leave when someone is talking to you." she said.

"Wh-what... do you want?"

"That fruit you ate to get your power. Where did you get it from?"

"Found it." Kuriiza replied, turning around to face her while also glancing around for a place to escape.

"Where?"

"One of Cooler's worlds." the Changeling replied. "There were two pieces and a note about what they did."

Mikomi frowned, the answers didn't tell her what she wanted to know. But then Vegeta spoke up. "The idiot should have used them." he said. "He may have actually lived longer, even if Raven was just using him. Well, at least he had the brains not to come back, unlike the rest of his family."

"Raven?" Mikomi asked, turning to face Vegeta.

"A very long story." the Sai-jin replied.

"So, she's still not surfaced?" Bardock asked. Vegeta shook his head. "I'm not sure if I'm relieved or concerned about that."

"Either way, we should worry about her later." Goku said. "We still have to stop this first."

"Kakkarotto's right." Vegeta said, turning from where Kuriiza and the Kai were and walking back toward the others. "We'll take out this 'Quietus' and then worry about Raven and whatever the hell she's up to."

"What should we do about him?" Videl asked, nodding toward Kuriiza.

Mikomi reached out a hand and tapped a finger against the Changeling's head. His body suddenly rippled and then transformed into a puffy cloud, his power vanishing in an instant. "That will do." she said.

"Uh... what'd you do?" asked Videl.

"He never had a body." she explained. "Not a real one at any rate. His form was simply force of will, the power too, though also thanks to the instabilities I'd wager. I merely exerted a little of my power to return him to the formless state most souls take while here. It will be months before he's able to reform a body or regain his power."

"Ummm." started Appla. "Now that that's taken care of... what's going on?" Her eyes were roaming from Goku and Bardock to the others and noting that none of them, not even her mate and her son, had halos. "Everyone's alive?"

"Oh, yeah...." Goku said, scratching the back of his head. "Side effect of going through the tear."

"We don't have all day to stand around and talk." Vegeta said, crossing his arms. "The sooner we get this over with the better."

Bardock nodded. "He's right. We should get going."

"Yes. Just wait a few more moments." Mikomi said. "Kibito and I will escort Tatamo to Heaven to defend it, should any Demons appear there, and then we will be on our way." The two Kais then took hold of Tatamo and the three of them vanished.

Appla blinked. "Did she say... Tatamo?"

"Apparently he's Planet Vegeta's Guardian." Goku said with a shrug.

"If he's who I think he is...." Bardock began.

"He is." Vegeta replied.

"Huh? What's going on?" Goku asked.

"Another long story." Bardock answered with a shake of the head.

"So, what's the plan then?" asked Sora. "Apparently you have one."

"Well, the Supreme Kai does." Bardock said. "Join up with two of the Mazoku, Dabura and Nefaria, and go to Makai to confront Quietus."

King Kai nodded. "We believe the Spirit Bomb is our only option."

Goku and Bardock glanced at each other but didn't have a chance to say anything before the two Kais reappeared. "Now we may proceed." Mikomi said. "Zenryou, I leave Otherworld in your care until I return from the H.F.I.L., I shouldn't be too long."

"Why not just go straight to Hell?" Videl asked.

"We cannot." Kibito answered. "We Kais are not able to enter Hell."

"Huh? Why not?" asked Gohan.

"Our energies are polar opposites." explained Mikomi. "We are the purest good in Shinkai while Hell is comprised of the purest evil. Now come, we must hurry, we don't know how long Dabura will remain in Shinkai and without his aid Goku and Bardock can not cross into Makai. We must also be wary of Aku, last I heard he was nearly my equal." With that everyone gathered around Mikomi and they vanished.

ZZZ

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

Videl closed her eyes and put a hand over her mouth as she fought not to puke. "Ugh, I think I know what Raditz was complaining about now." she muttered as she lowered her hand and opened her eyes again. As she looked around she realized they were in some sort of park, by the looks of it. A water fountain a few dozen feet in the distance, stone pathways and grass fields. Benches scattered about here and there, and shade trees too. "Not what I was expecting...."

"Me either." Gohan said as he looked around.

"The H.F.I.L. is merely a holding area." Kibito said. "While a soul is here the evil that has accumulated within it is slowly drained out and sealed away. Once that has been completed the soul is then reincarnated. The process then repeats itself until the Soul gains entry into Heaven."

Mikomi nodded. "And then it can remain in Heaven for a million years before it is reincarnated again, though it may choose to be before that if it wants." She paused there and looked around. "Anyway, we must press on. We have quite a long flight ahead of us."

"Huh? You mean you didn't bring us straight to the entrance to Hell?" Videl asked.

The Kai shook her head. "It was my intention but with the damages done it is apparently impossible. Much like when I and the other Kais went to the check-in stations earlier and were forced to appear outside of them. We are still a sizeable distance from the entrance." The group then lifted into the air and flew off with Mikomi and Kibito in the lead.

They flew in silence for a time, everyone gazing at the world around them as it slowly gave way from beautiful park to harsh and barren rocky mountains. "There's something I've been wondering." Bardock said as he flew up closer to the two Kais. "I remember King Kai telling us that those golden clouds were the barrier between Otherworld and the H.F.I.L. but what about the other Planes? I mean, it looked like you could cross from Otherworld into the H.F.I.L. anywhere you wanted too but it sounds like there's only one entrance into Hell."

Mikomi nodded. "Indeed. There is but one path from the H.F.I.L. into the depths of Hell. Similarly there are only sixteen paths into Heaven from Otherworld, one at each check-in station, and only one path from Heaven into the Kai Plane."

"What about the living world?" Gohan asked.

"There are billions of paths from the Mortal Plane into Otherworld." Mikomi answered. "But at the same time, only sixteen. You see, the four galaxies are divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant has a judge and a check-in station. Each check-in station has a door to Heaven and a door to the Mortal Plane. The door to the Mortal Plane opens inside the Lookout of every world within that quadrant." She sighed. "At least, they do normally. Currently the doors are closed and sealed."

"The Demons that attacked us mentioned that." Videl said. "They said Quietus sealed them so that we couldn't interfere in Otherworld after being killed."

"It's possible." Mikomi said. "It's also possible he's merely taking credit for helpful coincidence. Quietus may have gained more power than all the Mazoku but he is still a Demon. His influence over the various planes should be negligible. More so here in Shinkai as it is not his Realm. Still, as I do not know how he gained the power he has it should not be discounted."

"Back to my question." Bardock continued. "With the clouds gone now as part of the Demon invasion, are H.F.I.L. and Otherworld one plane? I mean, after the clouds were gone we had a clear view into the other plane...."

It was Kibito that covered this explanation. "The H.F.I.L. and Otherworld are unique planes within Shinkai." he said. "Where as most planes have solid barriers between them the barriers between those two planes are thin along their entire length. Just a flimsy energy field. This is so the Kais can exert force over the inhabitants of the H.F.I.L. as well as draw out and contain the evil energies of those inhabitants."

"Exert force?" asked Gohan.

"Yes." Kibito said. "Take the one we encountered upon our return...."

"Kuriiza." Vegeta said.

Kibito gave him a nod and continued. "Take Kuriiza for instance. Individuals such as him are not unheard of. Beings with strong enough wills to manifest bodies. They are purely soul formed bodies, no flesh or blood included unlike those on the Grand Kai's world, but bodies none the less. Those with that level of will are often able to manifest some, if not all, of their power.

"If they were allowed to run freely within the H.F.I.L. in such conditions the Grand Kai would be spending more time keeping the peace down there than he would managing Otherworld. But we Kai's emit a power that, under normal conditions, is amplified by the cloud barrier and suppresses the powers of those in the H.F.I.L. able to create Soul Bodies so as to prevent such issues.

"The clouds themselves are not a normal part of the planes, the barrier between them is merely a thin and insubstantial field of energy, completely invisible. The clouds were created by the Kai's to amplify our effect on the souls below so as to completely negate their powers, instead of partially, and to work as a barrier so those below could not come up. They are a one way passage and do not allow you to come up from below."

"Even with the clouds in place many still retain soul bodies." Mikomi added. "But they are limited to physical power only and as such are not threats and can be left to their own devices without issue."

Vegeta snorted. "It's because they were left to their 'own devices' that we're in this situation." he said. "They were the ones that moved the 'Blood Crystal' into Hell, the ones who went to Makai to recruit Demons to help them, and the ones that freed Quietus."

"How do you know this?" Mikomi asked, looking back at the Sai-jin royal. She remembered Tenma saying that some of the dead of Shinkai had helped to revive Quietus but it sounded like the Sai-jin had even more information on that matter than she did, and he'd been in the Mortal Plane the entire time.

"While you were chasing after Bardock and Kakkarotto Piccolo informed us of what he'd learned from Slug."

"Slug!?" Bardock cried, turning to look as well now. "He was there too?"

"Most of our old enemies were." Gohan replied. "And from what Piccolo said this whole thing is Raven's doing."

Goku frowned. "So this is related to them after all?"

"Slightly." Vegeta said. "At least, in so far as being their doing. The Namek said Slug told him they were following orders given to them before their deaths."

Gohan nodded. "The way Piccolo explained it it seems Raven wants the Demons for her own army or something. I'm not sure though."

"Who is this Raven you keep mentioning?" Mikomi asked. "You mentioned her in connection with the fruit earlier too."

Gohan sighed. "I suppose we can explain while we travel." he said. "But even our knowledge is limited. From what we know and understand Raven is from the future. She and her mate, someone we don't even have a name for yet, have been altering the past for a long time for reasons we don't fully know. Though most likely in an effort to take over the universe."

Bardock picked up there. "She's had spies and operatives inside all four of the galaxy's previous major empires for a while. Individuals who's powers she had boosted via those fruit. They even had teams traveling to planets to gather resources to feed the trees, apparently. Earth and Tanaria were both hit by such teams but drove them off."

"Piccolo thinks we're part of their plans." Videl added.

"Huh?" asked Goku. "What do you mean?"

"Something he thought of earlier." Gohan explained. "Despite altering history for more than a thousand years now we still exist. And based on what we learned from Cell when he came...."

"I get it." Bardock said. "Cell was created to kill Goku and he came from a timeline where the Sai-jin empire was dead and gone. A time likely unaltered by Raven but where all of us were still around."

"Well, most of us." Gohan said. "But enough to show that we've been kept around. With all of their changes and all of this time they've had they could have simply caused us not to exist. Written us out of history. But they haven't."

"Because they want us for something." Bardock finished, with a frown.

"Maybe this is why?" Goku suggested. "You said they wanted the Demons for their army, right? But maybe they don't want Quietus himself?"

Vegeta snorted. "Possible. They may just want us to wipe out the competition. And hope we die in the process, no doubt. But I'm not willing to take anything Slug had to say at face value. He could have been lying about a lot of things, or simply in the dark about the truth."

"Still, it's something worth bringing up with any other Demons we meet." Bardock said. "Not that I've seen much of anything down here so far...."

Mikomi turned her focus forward again as she contemplated what the others had said. "If this Raven you speak of is truly behind this then I fear she does not realize the magnitude of her actions."

Vegeta snorted again. "I'm sure she knows exactly what she's doing. The way the Namek explained it she's got everything planned out and hundreds of contingency plans ready just in case." he said. "And we know she's been around for at least fifteen hundred years. But that's only with written records of her name. Chances are that she's been screwing with things longer than that. When did this 'Quietus' first show up?"

"About two thousand years ago." Kibito said.

The Sai-jin royal chuckled softly. "She probably watched him kick the crap out of you, then." he said.

Mikomi glanced back at him again but then turned forward and shook her head. She doubted anyone would be willing to release someone as powerful and as dangerous as Quietus if they truly knew the threat he posed. However, she did have to admit that there was that chance. If this Raven knew as much about the universe as seemed likely she could easily have anticipated the plan developed by the Kais. In which case....

Her thoughts trailed off there as she saw something floating in the distance which she knew didn't belong there. It looked like a large, purple, jellybean. She slowed, the others soon following suit, as she gazed around her. There were more of the giant jellybeans to the left, and the ground there was a slick and glossy black. Off in the distance she could see black spires reaching into the sky.

"No...." she said softly, realization of the meaning to what she saw dawning on her. She tilted her head back and gazed skyward toward where the clouds should have been but where not. /I... I can't believe I didn't see this as a possibility!/ she thought. /The effects of our powers amplified by the clouds were also the only thing keeping his essence scattered throughout the plane! Now that it's gone he is free again..../

"Umm, Supreme Kai?" Goku asked tentatively. "What is it?"

"Kibito, you must take these Mortals on ahead to the path to Hell." Mikomi ordered, her gaze lowering back toward the distortion in the distance.

"What's wrong?" Kibito asked.

"The Demons meant only to allow easy passage to Otherworld but...." she trailed off as a sound, barely audible at all, came from the distance. "But in so doing, in destroying the clouds, they weakened our influence over the H.F.I.L. and have allowed an old evil to be restored."

Again, the sound came, but this time louder and recognizable. It was a voice. A playful and laughing voice. "Janemba! Janemba, Janemba, Janemba!" 


	45. Battle Plans

jeff: Goku was also far stronger than Appla when he did the combo. She's the weakest of the current SSJs, not much stronger in base than Goku was against Frieza back on Namek.

Chapter Forty-five - Battle Plans

Pug, as well as those who could sense powers, knew that Cell had not moved since their group started toward him. No doubt he was content to simply wait for them as he figured none could match him in power. And with his current level, thanks to whatever means Quietus used to increase the powers of his warriors, none of them could. Hotaru knew that out of the seven of them she was the closest to Cell's power. And even then she wasn't close enough to really hurt him.

"I'm open to suggestions." Piccolo said as they flew, his voice grumpier than normal.

"My suggestion is you stop talking." Mijima replied. "No one asked you to come along."

The Namek glanced her way and scowled. "Someone has to babysit you people to make sure you don't do anything even more stupid than this." he said.

Raditz snorted. "I doubt there is anything that could qualify as even half as stupid." he said. "Though I do have an idea."

"At least someone is using their brain." the Namek said as he looked toward Raditz. "What's your idea?"

"Tri-beam." the Sai-jin replied. "I'm in the same position as Tien, though. I've about reached my limit with the move, though I can get a good deal more power out of it than he can. I'm not sure what my limit is but I'm hoping it's somewhere near Cell's power. Preferably above it. It'll take time to charge, though. I haven't been able to use the Super Tri-beam since I first transformed."

Piccolo frowned. A 'maybe' solution wasn't what he was hoping for. But Raditz's suggestion had given him an idea. "Hotaru, what about that move you used on Vegeta?"

"The Ikioi Reikon Kougeki?" she asked. "I should be able to charge one strong enough to take out Cell. But there's a problem with that."

The Namek scowled. There seemed to always be some sort of problem. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm the only one strong enough to keep Cell busy." she replied. "Sure, I can make the attack self-charging like I did against Vegeta, but it takes a lot longer to charge that way. For something to take out Cell it'd be at least twenty five minutes. More than enough time for him to kill all of us."

"You can charge it manually though? And it's faster?" Piccolo asked.

Hotaru nodded. "It'd take maybe ten minutes then. But I'd be wide open to attack and no one here could even distract him while I do it." she replied.

"Can you manually charge one that you originally made self-charging?" asked Raditz.

"Sure, why?"

"Because I have an idea." the Sai-jin replied, smirking. "Make a self-charging one and then keep him busy while I prepare the Tri-beam. It'll take me at least six minutes, possibly more. I'll be able to fire off several of them, though at slowly weaker levels. While I keep him pinned down you finish charging the thing manually."

ZZZ

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

"What's going on?" Videl asked as she looked toward the sound of the voice. Whatever had shouted was still too far off to see. "What do you mean an old evil has reformed?"

"Janemba." Mikomi said. "I suppose... you could consider him Shinkai's version of Quietus. I would say it was around a hundred and ten thousand years ago, give or take a few thousand. The Oni that guarded the Evil Containment Machine, where the evil extracted from those in the H.F.I.L. is sealed away, fell asleep on the job and did not notice that a blockage had formed.

"Because of this blockage the evil that was being sent to be sealed couldn't enter the machine and a back-up occurred that ruptured the system. The evil energies collected over thousands of years escaped and the Oni at the site was killed and transformed into Janemba, a powerful entity made from the purest evil.

"When it first happened our only sign something was amiss were odd distortions with in the H.F.I.L. that Shin could not correct. The North and West Kais of the time came down to investigate and were killed by Janemba. That was when and how we discovered his existence. My fellow Supreme Kais and I, as well as the Lord of Kais, Muzai, then came down to deal with him ourselves. Of the Supreme Kais, only Yousha and I were a match for him but Muzai was far stronger and we easily defeated him.

"However... he soon reformed himself. The evil that had escaped had bonded so strongly with itself while in containment that it refused to dissipate. Destroying Janemba did nothing, it simply came back within minutes. And so a new stratagey was devised. When next we destroyed him we scattered his essence to the far reaches of the H.F.I.L., thus weakening his power, and used our powers over the Plane to supress the evil that made up his being to prevent him from reforming again."

"I get it." Gohan said. "With the clouds gone you couldn't keep him from reforming anymore."

Mikomi nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately that seems to be our situation. You all must press on, find Dabura, and go with him to put an end to this. Then we can try to restore the clouds, with them back something can be done about Janemba."

"What are you going to do?" asked Bardock.

"I will remain here and keep him occupied." she answered. "I will fight him until you return."

"But... that could be days!" Goku cried.

The Kai shook her head. "We have little choice in the matter." she said. "As a Supreme Kai my energy reserves are greater than those of a Mortal, I can last in battle far longer than someone else of my level could. And, luckily, he seems to have not reformed in the same state he was before. He is not nearly as strong. I should have little issue keeping him at bay until your return."

Bardock crossed his arms and scowled in thought. "You say this thing is made out of evil, right?"

"Yes, why?"

The Sai-jin glanced over to Goku. "What do you think?"

Goku nodded. "Yeah, it's worth a shot."

"What are you two babbling about?" Vegeta demanded.

"The Spirit Bomb." replied Bardock. "Normal attacks may not have been able to kill this thing but a Spirit Bomb might."

Mikomi looked over to the two Sai-jins for a moment and then smiled and nodded. "You're right." she said. "A Spirit Bomb may be capable of destroying him for good."

"What about Dabura?" Kibito asked.

"The others can find him and have him wait for us." Goku said, turning to look toward Videl, Gohan, and Vegeta. "We'll catch up after we've taken care of things here."

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace

Cheri sat with her back pressed against the wall and her left arm held slightly in front of her so that she could stare at where her hand used to be. It was definitely an odd experience, lacking her hand. And somehow different from the loss of her tail, though she couldn't really place how.

"I'm really sorry." Sakura said, making the other girl look up. "It's my fault...."

Cheri shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's just a hand." She turned back to look at her missing hand again. "I'd do it again, you know." she said after a moment. "A hand is worth losing if it means saving a friend."

Sakura sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her as she smiled. "Thanks."

"GAH!" Trunks suddenly yelled from across the room, a burst of energy washing out from him and cracking the floor. "I can't stand just sitting around here doing nothing! The others are almost to Cell now...."

"Trunks, I know how you feel, believe me. We all do." Cheri said, closing her eyes. "But we don't have much choice. We're just kids."

"Just kids?" the Sai-jin royal scoffed. "We're Super Elites! Some of the most powerful people in the entire galaxy! When Gohan was 'just a kid' he fought right along with everyone else and he beat Cell but we're stuck on the side-lines."

"That was different." Sakura said. "Gohan started off stronger than the others and the enemies they fought, up until fighting Freeza on Namek, didn't outclass everyone else in the galaxy. Your grandfather could have beaten them all himself. And when the Androids and Cell came Gohan trained to fight them and kept right up with the others along the way. But for us...."

Cheri nodded. "Sakura's right. We've not had the years of battle experience that Gohan got. We've not had the need to push ourselves just to survive. And the enemies out there now are on a whole other level than the ones Gohan fought at our ages."

"I know, I know, I know." the Prince said, waving them off. "But that doesn't mean it can't piss me off."

"So, why don't we do something?" Akemi asked.

"We can't." said Sakura. "We can't help right now. Cell's way too strong for us to even scratch."

"I never said fight him." said Akemi.

"What do you have in mind?" Trunks asked, suddenly interested. If Akemi had some way of helping he was all for it.

"Why not go to Otherworld to get someone to help?" she asked. "The others are over there, right? So we can just go through the hole and get them!"

"Akemi, you're a genius!" Trunks cried, grinning. "We can go get dad to take out Cell and then he can go back to Otherworld to help out there again!"

"I don't know. I mean, we don't know if it's safe." Cheri said.

"But it's our only way of helping." Sakura said. "And it might be the only chance the rest of our families have."

Cheri sat in thought for a moment and then nodded. "Well, when you put it that way I guess there's no choice. Let's go."

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Hotaru pulled to a stop in a burst of orange and raised an arm in front of her face, energy crackling around her palm. She was still several blocks away from Cell and the others had pressed on to meet him but she'd hung back to perform the Ikioi Reikon Ikioidzuku unnoticed. Then she would join the others and use her array of skills to their fullest to keep Cell busy.

"It shouldn't take Hotaru long." Piccolo said. "Just keep Cell talking until she gets here."

"Shouldn't be hard." Raditz said with a snort. "He likes talking about himself a lot."

"Almost as much as the King." Mijima interjected.

Even Vegeta smirked a little at that. "We'll need to use all of his weaknesses against him if we hope to win this." he said. "Fortunately there's no one in the area now, everyone's fled. We wont have to hold back. Chances are slim that we can win but if we don't there wont be anyone left here to save when the others return."

Gainin nodded. "I'd rather not die so soon after finding what I've been looking for but... if it's the only way to protect Hiroshi I'll do it without a second thought."

"Let's try and avoid coming to that." Piccolo said. "So long as we're still alive we can keep fighting and stalling, don't forget that."

They flew in silence for the last few blocks until at last reaching the crater were Cell still waited for them. His arms were crossed as he smirked up at them. "I see you've finally arrived." he said. "And I take it Angel wiped out everyone else, eh?"

"Hardly." Raditz said, crossing his own arms. "Angel's toast. Everyone else has gone to Otherworld to put an end to this mess for good."

"Which leaves us to deal with you." Mijima said.

"You intend to fight me?" Cell laughed. "None of you could even hope to compare to me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that!" Hotaru called as she pulled up to join the others. "You've been out of the loop for seven years Cell. That's a long time for us to train and improve."

"No amount of training could match my power." Cell said.

Gainin laughed. "I don't know, Bardock laid you out pretty well. It's just too bad he didn't kill you. Looking at you makes me sick."

Cell frowned. "Well, now that we've gotten the pleasantries over, who dies first?" he asked.

Hotaru clenched her hands into fists and let out a yell as her aura flared up. She began to glow brightly and then pulsed, flashed, and vanished. And then a loud crack sounded as she reappeared in a burst of orange. Blue and orange lightning crackled around her aura and her body was covered in stripes.

"Let me show you something you haven't seen before, Cell." she said, slipping into a fighting stance. "The true power of the Tanarian race. This is the third transformation, the final false form, half of my true and full power. If I were just one stage higher you would be nothing, an ant."

Cell cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I must say, I hadn't anticipated you to be this strong. You're actually stronger than Vegeta was seven years ago. Though still not as powerful as that girl from the future and she wasn't able to take out me out when I was much weaker than I currently am."

"There's a reason I said I'd be showing you the true power of the Tanarian race." Hotaru said. "This form may be one step away from my true form but that doesn't mean I can't match that power. Nibai Kinryoku!" In a burst of silver she launched in at Cell and smashed a hard right punch into his face. Having been unprepared for the strength of the blow it sent him flying back and the Tanarian quickly shot after him. Meanwhile Raditz shot up into the sky as he placed his hands in front of him and began to charge the Tri-beam.

Hotaru reached Cell before he recovered from his shock and snapped a kick into has face knocking him down into the ground at the edge of the crater. As she charged again her hands moved quickly in front of her. "Shika-Shidou Yaiba!" she cried as she reached the prone Bio-droid and thrust an arm down toward his head. The energy blade flared up as her hand surged down but Cell managed to slip to the side and the blade embedded itself in the ground instead.

His leg then shot up, knee slamming into her stomach and driving her up but she brushed the pain aside and took a swipe at him as he climbed to his feet. His arm came up to block the blow but the blade sliced through as though it weren't there. Cell's eyes widened in shock and he let out a surprised yelp of pain as he jerked back and then shook his arm.

/Odd move, that./ he thought, looking at the energy blade around Hotaru's right hand. /It didn't sever the arm, even though it passed clean through. Didn't even scratch me. But it hurt me more than a power of her level should be cappable of against me. No matter, a little pain wont slow me down./ he thought, smirking.

ZZZ

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

"Take care guys." Bardock said as he nodded to the others. Mikomi had agreed to his plan. Kibito would lead the others to the entrance into Hell so that they could find Dabura and inform him of the plan to fight Quietus so that he would wait for Goku and Bardock. Meanwhile the Sai-jins would help Mikomi fight Janemba and, with luck, wipe him out with a Spirit Bomb.

"You too." Videl said, nodding back.

Vegeta snorted as he turned to follow Kibito to their destination. "Don't get yourself killed again, Kakkarotto." he said. "Now that you're alive again we still have a fight." And with that the four of them took off leaving Goku, Bardock, and Mikomi behind to deal with Janemba.

"Wow, he's got a one track mind, doesn't he?" Goku asked as he watched them leave.

"So, how do we want to go about this?" Bardock asked as he crossed his arms and turned toward the distorted part of the H.F.I.L. again. "This Janemba thing is even stronger than Maku was after he powered-up."

Mikomi turned to the two Sai-jins. "Working together the two of you should be able to charge a single Spirit Bomb more quickly than you could on your own." she said. "Draw power from those in Otherworld, the Oni may not be overly strong but they exist in great numbers and should be sufficient for our needs."

Goku frowned a little. "It's not as much fun to just blast him though. Still, fighting him wouldn't be much better."

"Let's just get this over with so we can move on to the main battle." Bardock said.

"Right." Goku agreed with a nod. The three of them then shot off toward where they could sense Janemba. A few moments later they all pulled to a quick stop as Goku's eyes widened. "Whoa, look at that!" he cried. There, not more than fifty yards away, was a large yellow... thing. "Is that... him?"

"Janemba! Janemba, Janemba!" it cried.

"I'd take that as a yes." Bardock said. "Man, this thing's about the size of a fat Oozaru."

"Prepare the Spirit Bomb." Mikomi ordered. "I will keep him away from you until it is ready."

The two Sai-jins nodded and then flew up a little higher into the air to begin preparing the attack.

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Palace

Sakura pressed her back against the wall and slowly peered around the corner of the building. She could see Cheri's parents, Pug, and the Changelings all standing in one of the gardens talking. /Hmm, I don't see that orange guy./ she thought, remembering the winged man who'd been with the others before. /Everyone else is here, though./

Reaching up she pushed one of the buttons on the communicator she had on. "Trunks, do you read?"

"I hear you." came the boy's voice. "How's it look?"

"They're all talking." she answered. "Pug's still wearing the scouter too."

"Damn, I - sorry Akemi - I was hoping he'd have it off." he replied. "Senses, especially distracted ones, are easier to fool than the new model scouters."

"We'll just have to keep our powers down." the Tanarian said as she ducked back around the corner and made her way back to the others. "We'll run toward the arena instead of flying. It'll take longer but it uses less energy. Oh, and that orange guy is missing. They could have sent him out on patrols or something, we'll have to watch for him too."

"Alright, get back here and we'll set out."

ZZZ

Earth, South City, EDF Transport Center

"There it is." Autoro said as he and the others came to a stop across the street from the Transport Center. All five major cities had one, they were launching and landing points for transport shuttles. Both air and space shuttles. The central hub of all EDF travel transporting soldiers, equipment, and prisoners. "The transports should be on level B4, about forty feet under ground. We'll have to open up the launch bays to get out."

"How do you know all of this?" Jairel asked.

Autoro shrugged. "A few years ago I'd considered hitting one of these centers to swipe a few... supplies I needed. Discarded the idea after I realized just how troublesome it would be to get out after I'd gotten in."

The three of them glanced at each other as Autoro started across the street. "Is this really such a good idea?" asked Ward.

"Hey, you were the first to agree to help!" Jairel cried.

"Well, it's not like we've got much choice." added Gard. "There's no way we can stop him and standing around here's just going to get us killed."

Jairel sighed. "Man, when this is all over we're probably going to be fired."

"Hey!" Autoro yelled from across the street. "Would you bozos hurry it up!"

ZZZ


	46. A Winning Strategy

Chapter Forty-six - A Winning Strategy

Nova was still awed by the powers of those she was with. Even given her newly acquired might that was greater than anything she'd thought was even possible she was surpassed by Raditz, when he was transformed, and by Hotaru. The latter had her outclassed by a far larger amount than she could have ever dreamed of before coming to Planet Vegeta. And the ferocity of the Tanarian woman's sudden assault had also caught her off guard.

Still, by the time Hotaru had readied her energy blades the Changeling Queen had recovered her senses and was on the move. She was unsure what attacks the others may have been planning to distract Cell with but she had a few of her own that she felt would be useful. While he was focused on Hotaru she quickly got behind him and charged what looked like a regular ball of blue ki in her right hand.

"Lacero!" she cried, pitching it toward Cell like a baseball.

The Bio-droid turned quickly at the sound of her voice and spied the incoming attack. He quickly judged it as a non factor and once it was in range swatted at it knocking it away. He left out a cry of shock and pain as soon as his hand touched the ball as the energy ripped through his flesh and, by the time he broke contact with it, shreded up half of his hand.

He growled as he stared at his damaged appendage but before he could muster a counter attack a sharp pain jammed him in the back and he saw the tip of Hotaru's energy blade emerge from his chest. Forcing the lancing pain from his mind he jammed an elbow back into the Tanarian's chest knocking the wind out of her and knocking her onto her back. He turned to follow up his attack on her but came to a stop when he heard a female voice to his left.

"Destructo Disc!" Mijima cried pitching two of the golden energy discs in Cell's direction. The Bio-droid slipped around one while bringing up his damaged hand and allowing the second disc to slice it off. Almost instantly a fully intact hand emerged to replace it which he then used to send a stream of golden energy in the Cyborg's direction.

The blonde slipped around the energy blast and the threw five more energy discs but Cell slipped around each of them with ease. "Please, 18, you could never hope to hurt me." he laughed.

"I'm not 18." the woman replied as she raised both arms above her head and began to gather energy. "That's a part of my life I've put behind me. I am Mijima, now and forever." She then lowered the large ball of gathered energy and pointed it in Cell's direction. "Here's a little payback for Krillin.... Destructo Disc Shotgun!"

The large energy sphere shot toward Cell at high speed but the Bio-droid smirked, sure he could handle the attack with ease. But then the sphere suddenly exploded releasing nearly four dozen energy discs flying at different angles and in different directions, though all coming his way. His eyes widened in shock for a moment and then he quickly left out a cry and burst of energy in their direction knocking them off course or destroying them outright.

/That would have been unpleasant./ he thought, scowling. /However, they are proving more entertaining than I had anticipated. Now, where did that Tanarian get to?/ he wondered. As he turned to find her he noticed it had gotten darker and a light off to his right caught his attention. Looking that way he saw Hotaru floating just a few inches above the ground, arms pointed his way and light sparking around them. /Now what is this?/

"Taiyou Inmetsu Hirameki!" Hotaru cried. Instantly the space between the two of them flashed blindingly bright and then a thunderous crack sounded as Cell was sent flying backwards and into a building at the crater's edge.

As the building began to collapse ontop of him Nova saw another opening and shot quickly into the sky, aiming a hand down at the rubble. A ball of swirling red energy flared up in front of her hand, white and blue energy crackling around it. "Letum!" she cried, firing the golfball sized blast into the rubble. There was a bright flash of red and a ground shaking erruption as the energy exploded savagely and surged hundreds of feet into the air and vaporized three city blocks.

Nova's eyes widened a second later as Cell came surging up out of the dust straight for her. A streak of silver surged in a second later and knocked him away with a loud crack. The Tanarian pulled to a stop then and panted. She wasn't getting any time to really rest up between attacks and she had to keep using high level ones just to keep even. Taking a deep breath she began to glow and then the glow split apart into four copies of her.

As Cell pulled to a stop he spied the extra Hotaru's taking form and smirked. "Bad move girl." he said. "With your power divided I can crush you even more easily now!" and with a burst of orange he shot in at the five of them but came to a sudden stop as all five vanished from sight. "What? A teleportation technique?" he wondered, looking around for her.

Suddenly sensing a power nearing behind him he spun around and launched kick that passed right through the Hotaru that was floating there. "What!?" Quickly disregarding that power and image as a fake of some sort he turned to find the real one and met with a foot to the back of his head. Spinning around again he lashed out with a punch but it, too, passed clear through without doing damage.

"What is this?" Cell growled. He ducked as he felt another power flare behind him and watched as the second Hotaru punched the first knocking her back. /What in the world is this?/ he wondered as he pulled away from both of them. /How can they attack but not be attacked, unless they're hitting each other?/ Pushing those thoughts aside he reached out with his senses to find the other three missing women. One of them had to be real.

A second later he found them. One was to his left and on the ground, the second behind him and in the sky, and the third was in a building about a block away. /I'd place my bets on the one in hiding./ he thought with a smirk as he faced that direction. He quickly whipped out and arm and fired off a shot toward the distant building. The energy blast impacted a second later and then exploded and the two Hotarus charging him from behind vanished.

"Bingo."

"Sorry, not quite." Came Hotaru's voice as she surged down from above and smashed her leg into his face knocking him back a few feet. "Shika-Shidou, Yaiba!" she cried as energy blades formed around both arms. She lunged in quickly, while Cell was still off balance, and slashed her blades through the air toward him. The left hand blade cut through his neck while the right cut up from his right hip to left shoulder.

The Bio-droid left out a cry of pain as he surged back away from the woman and her blades. /I can't believe I'm having this much trouble dealing with this Tanarain!/ he thought with a scowl. /If my power hadn't been boosted... this just isn't possible./ He growled as his hand clenched into fists. "Alright, that's it!" he declared. "I've had enough of this, I grow tired of playing these games. It is time for you to die."

"Not so fast Cell!" Gainin cried from behind him. The Bio-droid turned and found him and Mijima standing side by side, back to back, arms raised and purple energy gathered before their hands. "Did you forget something? Mijima and I have infinite energy! Give us enough time and we can charge any level of attack we want!"

The twins smirked as Cell's eyes widened and locked onto the pulsing purple ball of energy in front of their hands. And then their voices rang out together. "DOUBLE BARREL BLASTER!" The energy ball erupted and a massive wave of energy surged toward Cell who quickly brought his arms up, crossing them, to block. The beam hit and with a cry and thrust of his arms out and apart he deflected the attack into the sky leaving the two Cyborgs scowling at him.

"You had me worried there for a moment, I must admit." Cell said as he started to smirk again. "But that attack was pathetic. Still, it proves that you are more than just nusances. I'll eliminate the two of you first." He raised his right arm and pointed a finger toward the two, taking aim at Gainin first. "Death Beam!" he cried as a stream of purple energy surged toward them.

Gainin left out a gasp of surprise as he felt his sister slam into him and knock him out of the way. And then watched on in shock as the beam punched through her chest. She hit the ground a few feet away with a dull thud, eyes open but unseeing. "Mijima! Damn it...!" Gainin cried, slamming a fist down into the ground. He turned his gaze toward Cell and growled as he pushed off and surged at him.

The Bio-droid easily slipped around his punch and then slammed a knee up into his stomach and then smashing a hard left hook into his face that twisted his head around and snapped his neck. As he fell to the ground Cell kicked him away and then turned to find Hotaru again. "Now, where did she disappear to?" he wondered. Suddenly a flash of purple came from above, bathing the street in its glow. "Hm?"

Looking up Cell arched an eyebrow at the sight of the elder Vegeta floating a good hundred feet in the air, hands cupped to his side and purple aura pulsing wildly. "Impressive display but do you really think you can even scratch me?" he asked.

Vegeta smiled as the purple energy between his hands flashed again. "I can do more than that, Cell." he said. "After Cooler's visit, and with knowledge of how bad things could become thanks to the Red Ribbon Army, I worked on developing a new attack. A new and improved Gallick Gun. I think it's time to give it a field test. Neo Gallick Gun fire!" he cried as he thrust his arms down.

Cell merely smirked as he watched the attack near. He could feel it's power and while it was certainly impressive it was no where near a threat to him. Just as it was about to hit him he jumped and snapped out a kick to knock it away. His foot hit the beam and then intense agony tore through his leg and he cried in out shock and pain as he fell back and hit the ground. The attack then slammed into the ground a few feet behind him and exploded showering debris down over the battle field.

As the dust fell Cell picked himself back up off the ground and soon found the cause of the pain he'd felt. The leg he'd tried to deflect the attack with, from mid shin down, was completely gone. "What!?" he cried, eyes widening in shock and then narrowing into a deep scowl as he leg regenerated. "How the hell did he...."

Vegeta smirked from where he floated in the sky panting. "That attack is covered in spinning energy blades. It's the same effect as an energy disc. I was hoping you'd take it head on, though. Even if it hadn't been enough to destroy you it would have bought us a little more time while you regenerated."

Cell's eyes narrowed. "Bought you more time?" he asked. "More time for what? What could you possibly do to...."

"Hell's Gate!" Piccolo's voice roared from behind Cell.

The Bio-droid spun around just in time for the first energy sphere to engulf him. /Damn, I'd forgotten Piccolo was even here... wait, where are Raditz and that Tanarian? Damn it! I'll have to find them once I get out of here./ He was just about to charge out of the energy around him for the Namek when Piccolo's voice rang out again.

"Heaven's Gate!" The other ball of energy surged forward and impacted the energy around the Bio-droid as Piccolo clenched his hands into fists. "Judgment!"

The resulting implosion and then explosion of the attack carved a larger and deeper crater along the western edge of the original as it blew both the tired Senator and Namek away. As Piccolo righted himself he glanced up into the sky toward Hotaru and Raditz. He could barely sense either of them at the edge of his perception. Hotaru had gone up to check on how much time was left before Raditz was ready, hopefully it wasn't much.

Looking back toward Cell the Namek's eyes widened. As the dust cleared away he saw that the Bio-droid was completely unharmed. "No way! That should have at least done some damage!"

"You pests are becoming annoying." Cell growled as he massaged his left shoulder. "But neither of you are a threat now so I'll deal with you later. Now, where did that Tanarian get to?" he wondered as he began to glance around.

"Looking for me?" Hotaru asked as she appeared in front of Cell. Her hands were up in front of her face forming a tunnel for her to gaze through. "Shika-Shidou Konmei!" she cried. Her eyes flashed bright orange and then his did the same a second later as he left out a loud cry of pain and pressed his hands against the sides of his head.

"Clear out!" Hotaru called before vanishing. Piccolo, Vegeta, and Nova quickly moved away from Cell who now had his eyes shut tight and was doubled over as he pressed his hands against his head and screamed. And then they looked up as a gold light began to fill the city streets and Raditz descended, gold energy sparking between his hands.

"Tri-beam, First Shot!" Raditz called as the gold between his hands flared up brightly and then the energy surged down and slammed into Cell with a thunderous explosion that brought down a few near-by buildings and formed a deep pit in the ground. He took a few quick, deep, breaths as he let his musscles untense a little.

He'd not been able to charge one as powerful as he'd hoped he would and it still put a good deal of strain on his body. /This can't be my limit!/ he thought. /Everyone else is stronger than that, my entire family. And the strain and maximum level of the Tri-beam is the same if I'm transformed or not./ He shook that aside quickly and returned his focus to the task at hand. The energy between his hands snapped and pulsed as he readied to attack again. "Second Shot!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace

"It's not much of a defense, but it's the best we can manage." Vadora said with a frown as she crossed her arms. "Having a few guards posted all around the palace is better than nothing at least."

"Not that it'll matter if Cell comes by." Tien said with a shake of his head.

"I still find it hard to fathom." said the strongest of the Changeling Elites that Nova had brought, Tsunamo. Unlike Cold in his second form, who still had skin visible between sections of natural armor, Tsunamo was already fully covered in the white armor. The only color to him, other than the tan and black armor he wore, were the plates on his head, shoulders, arms, and legs which were a deep blue. "You say this Cell's power is in the hundreds of millions but such power is...."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Pug said to him. "And I've been watching the powers climbing since Goku and Bardock first landed on Namek." He stopped there as he noticed Tien was staring off toward the city. "What is it?" he asked. "Has something happened?" His scouter was currently set to montior the area around the palace so they would have advance warning of any threats so it wasn't tracking the powers in the city.

The Human shook his head. "Not yet but I think it's about to." he said. "With the power I'm feeling from Raditz right now he must be about ready to unleash a Tri-beam at his maximum level." A second later a bright flash of gold flared up in the direction of the city and the ground beneath their feet trembled. But the power he felt coming from Raditz didn't subside down to it's normal levels. "Raditz, no!" he yelled, realizing what the Sai-jin was doing.

"What's happening?" asked Tsunamo.

"He's going to use another Tri-beam."

"What's that mean?" inquired the Changeling as a second flash of gold came from the distance.

Vadora shook her head. "The Tri-beam is an amazingly powerful move capable of being used at levels many times beyond the user's own power. But the strain it puts on the body is high...."

"Yes." Tien said. "And with each consecutive shot the amount of power drops by ten percent while the level of strain doubles...." he trailed off as a third flash of gold came. "Damn it! Raditz! STOP!" he yelled, even though he knew the Sai-jin couldn't hear him.

"What happens if he keeps using it?" asked Tsunamo, watching the golden light in the city.

"Four consecutive shots will snap musscles and do severe internal damage. Damage that's fatal if not treated quickly." Vadora answered. "A fifth...." she trailed off as a fourth flash of gold lit up the horizon.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Raditz winced and shut his eyes as the third blast went off. He could feel his entire body protesting. The musscles in his arms and chest had grown taunt and stiff and his shoulders were beginning to burn. /Come on, just a little bit more./ he thought, panting, as he opened his eyes again. He could still feel Cell down inside the blast hole from his attack, unmoving.

He felt his body tense and the burning in his shoulders grow as he readied the next attack. "Fourth Shot!" he cried, the golden energy exploding forth from his hands and down toward the square hole below. The attack went unseen by the Sai-jin, however, as his eyes were squinted shut from the pain. His entire body burned now and it felt like his heart was about to explode.

Intense pain lanced through his arms and legs as his body broke under the strain of the energy he was forcing through it. /One... more..../ he thought as he wavered slilghtly in the air. He panted as he tried to get his breath and focus back so he could keep on target. /Just... one more... shot..../ He swallowed and took a deep breath as he felt the burning flare up inside him stronger than over. "FINAL SHOT!"

The energy surged out of his hands with tremendous force and speed and slammed into the hole below with a thundering and planet shaking explosion. Less than a second after the attack had been launched Raditz began to plummet out of the sky. He landed, a moment later, at the edge of the blast crater with a thud. Unmoving.

Piccolo lowered the arm he'd raised to shield himself from the debris and force shockwaves and looked to where Raditz had landed. It only took a quick ki search to know that the Sai-jin was gone. "He over did it."

"I think he meant to from the start." said Vegeta as he walked up beside the Namek. "Revenge for Mango and extra time for Hotaru to finish preparing her attack." As he spoke the Sai-jin looked skyward to where Hotaru still floated a good distance up quickly charging their one and only hope of defeating Cell.

"What about Cell?" asked Nova as she joined them.

"Not moving." Piccolo replied. "He's not unconcious though." He stopped and narrowed his eyes a little as he focused more intently on Cell's power. "Hmm, interesting."

"What?"

"His power has dropped a little and it's not going back up."

The Changeling glanced his way. "What do you mean? Why would it go back up?" she asked.

"When we fought him seven years ago he said his energy was infinite. The generators...." he trailed off there as he realized why Cell's power wasn't being replenished and he smirked. "That's it. The generators."

"I see." Vegeta said with a nod. He remembered Cell's explanation from the video broadcast of the Cell Games. "Before, his energy was restored by the infinite energy generators he'd absorbed from Gainin and Mijima. The Proton Energy from those was converted into ki and kept him at full power. But, even though he's back in his Perfect Form, he lacks the generators."

"Which means his power reserves are limited now." Piccolo continued as he felt Cell began to move again. "I'd thought he felt stronger when I first sensed him than when he came back." He turned his gaze up toward where Hotaru was. "Which means the chances of this succeeding just increased."

Piccolo turned his gaze back to the blast crater as he felt Cell flying up to the surface. "I hope Hotaru's ready, looks like she's about out of time."

A second later the tips of Cell's head emerged from the hole, followed by his full head, and his face which bore a very sour and angry expression. And then the rest of him emerged. "You pests are really trying my patience. Haven't you realized yet that you can't beat me?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Hotaru said as she appeared in front of Cell. She had an arm pointed toward him with the other bracing it at the wrist, and a beach ball sized sphere of blue, silver, green, and orange energy in front of her hand. The attack was positioned less than a foot away from the Bio-droid. He had less than half a second to realize what was happening before her voice rang out. "Ikioi Reikon Kougeki!"

The energy sphere shot forward and slammed into Cell in an instant. And then it exploded and Hotaru was flung back into a building five blocks away. The huge swirling sphere of energy grew larger and larger as it carved out a deeper crater. And then it flashed a bright white and vanished.

"Is it over?" Nova asked.

Piccolo glanced around the crater for a moment and then nodded. "I think so." he said. "I don't sense Cell... but that's what happened last time, too."

Nova nodded as cracks snaked along her body and then the red armor shattered as she reverted back to normal. "Is it always this exiciting with you people?"

The Namek smirked as Hotaru unsteadily flew up and landed with the group. "Pretty much." he said before turning to the Tanarian. "How are you doing?"

She shook her head as she looked toward where Gainin and Mijima still lay, Raditz's body having been destroyed in the blast from her attack. "Better than some." she said. "But totally spent. I couldn't even stay transformed."

"We should head back to the palace." said Vegeta. "We still have a lot of work to do." 


	47. Transformation

A/N: As was pointed out in a review, there are a LOT of OCs in this. It can be hard to remember them all. And thus, I have compiled a list. You can find the link in my bio (once the page updates).

Chapter Forty-seven - Transformation

Goku and Bardock came to a stop as they raised their arms above their heads and began to focus on gathering energy for the Spirit Bomb. "Ummm, it's not working." Goku said after a moment, gazing up at where the attack should have been forming but wasn't it. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Bardock said, trying to concentrate harder. "Maybe it's because of where we are? I mean, there's no ambient pure energy here to draw on like normal and I've yet to find any of these Oni that the Supreme Kai mentioned..."

"Yeah. Man, if we don't find those Oni we're not going to get anywhere with this." said Goku. He closed his eyes and stretched his senses out further and further. He could feel the Supreme Kai below flying nimbly around Janemba's swings and the others flying toward the entrance to Hell, but not much else.

After a few more moments of nothing Bardock left out an exasperated sigh and lowered his arms. "This is getting us nowhere." he said. "There has to be a better way to find the Oni than this! Otherworld and the H.F.I.L. are infinite in size, we'll be forever trying to find them ourselves. They're probably all as far away from Janemba and the invading Demons as they can get."

Goku lowered his arms as well and scrunched up his face as he thought. "Oh, hey!" he cried, getting an idea. He turned his gaze skyward to where he could see Otherworld, though it was nothing but pinkish-purple sky for as far as he could see. "King Kai!" he called loudly. "King Kai, do you hear me!"

-Huh? Goku?- came the Kai's voice. -What's going on?-

"We're helping the Supreme Kai deal with something called Janemba and..."

-WHAT! JANEMBA'S BACK?-

"Yeah. Bardock and I are trying to form a Spirit Bomb cause we think it can stop him for good but we can't find any energy for it." he explained. "She said to use the Oni but there's none anywhere near us."

-Hmmm, yes, the Spirit Bomb could be effective against him. What do you need me for, Goku?-

"Well, I was kind of hoping you could help us find the Oni." the Sai-jin replied with a shrug. "Track them down from up there and tell us where to look."

-Ah. Well, I can do one better than that, actually.- the Kai said. -I am a master of mass telepathy, I can put you and Bardock into direct contact with all the Oni in Otherworld.-

"Really? That's great!" Goku cried.

-Just give me a moment.- he said. The two Sai-jins waited in silence as the Kai began to establish a telepathic link to all of the Oni in Otherworld. It was a few moments before his voice came again. -Attention to all Oni, this is the North Kai. Janemba has returned and two of my pupils are helping the Supreme Kai to combat him and they need your help to form a Spirit Bomb.- he explained. -Reach out with your minds through the telepathic link I've established. Show them where you are so they can gather your energy!-

The two Sai-jins soon felt brushes of thoughts, millions upon millions of them, most of them various forms of fear over the news they'd just recievied. But those faint brushes of thought were enough to allow them to pinpoint the location of each individual Oni. "Oh, wow, they're way out there." Goku said. "We'd have been hours just finding them on our own!"

Bardock nodded and raised his arms again. "Right, let's do this." Goku gave him a nod as well and then raised his arms too and the two of them began to focus on gathering the energy. This time it only took a few seconds before they began to feel the approach of the energy and only a moment before they saw it flowing toward them from Otherworld.

While the Sai-jins had been busy trying to start the Spirit Bomb Mikomi had been busy keeping the large Janemba occupied. At first it had been an easy task. She'd flown up to him to get his attention and then simply flown in circles around him dodging his occasional wild swipe. But then she quickly learned that, although he looked nothing like the Janemba she remembered, he still posessed the same abilities as that one, when he swatted at her from behind by teleporting his hand.

The unexpected hit had knocked her off course and into one of the numerous floating jellybeans but she quickly recovered and the next teleported arm swing was dodged with relative ease. All the while Janemba was laughing and smiling and seemingly enjoying itself. /It's hard to believe this is the same creature that tried so hard to kill us all those thousands of years ago./ she thought. /I wonder what caused it to reform in such a way?/

As she slipped around another swing she felt a small twinge in her senses and glanced up. There, between and above the two Sai-jins, blue and white energy was starting to gather. /Good, it's working./ she thought as she slipped around another swing and gauged the attack's growth rate. /It'll take some time to become strong enough to overpower even this version of Janemba, though./

As she quickly shot up over another teleported hand she wondered if their plan would work against Quietus. It was their best option, she knew that, but the time it would take to form an attack able to kill Quietus... She figured the two Sai-jins would be at least ten minutes creating this attack. One able to take out Quietus would need to be more than five times as powerful. That likely meant at least three to five times the charge time.

/Could Dabura even last that long against him?/ she wondered as she deflected a volley of energy blasts the large yellow creature had unleashed from the odd openings in its chest. /Would the forming attack go unnoticed for that long? They would need a half hour at least, maybe almost an hour./ Her thoughts cut off there as a large fist came down from above and slammed her into the ground.

With a grunt she pushed the hand off of her, the force taking Janemba off balance and causing him to fall onto his back. "I will worry later, when I don't have a giant baby trying to squash me." she mumbled as she brushed debris off of her clothes. She watched in a mix of curiosity and amusement as Janemba kicked and flailed its arms and legs trying to right itself again. Her initial fear and concern over his return was evaporating quickly. Though he was back he was far from the threat he had once been.

The openings along the front of his body began to glow again and then huge blasts of ki began to shoot out haphazardly before raining down upon the area at random. Mikomi dodged around one of the blasts, easily twice as big as she was tall, and then deflected a second before she heard gasps and shouts of surprise. Looking up she saw the two Sai-jins dashing away from each other as a blast of energy sailed through the space where they had been.

Just then she noticed the area around her was getting brighter and looked up in time to see another huge ball of energy falling toward her. With a cry she thrust her arms up and caught and then repelled the blast away from her. /Have to get him back on his feet, he's more dangerous when he's not trying to hit me than when he is./ she thought, turning to face the large yellow creature again.

She rushed in and quickly slipped around another sudden blast of energy, flew by his head, and then dove down and underneath him before pushing up to lift him ito the air. As soon as he started to move upward his thrashing and the energy blasts stopped. Once he was on his feet again Mikomi pulled back and moved around in front of him again but Janemba just stood there blinking and staring at her.

/What is this?/ she wondered. /Is he not attacking me because I helped him up? Is this really Janemba?/ She floated there staring at him staring at her for a moment as she contemplated this unusual situation. And then a thought suddenly hit her. Perhaps, in this state, she could disperse his energy as she had done with Kuriiza? He was not a soul, and did not have one, so he could not become a soul cloud as the Changeling had, but perhaps the evil had dilluted enough she could scatter his energies for at least a few days.

She drifted back to where the two Sai-jins were floating and readying to resume creating the Spirit Bomb. "How much of the energy did you lose?" she asked.

"Not much." replied Bardock. "We managed to hold on to more then eighty percent of what we'd gathered. Most of what was lost should still be floating around for us to recollect anyway."

She nodded. "Alright. I am going to try something else first. An idea has come to me. It is possible Janemba's current state is due to a weakening of the evil that comprised him, from having been seperated for so long. In which case it may be possible for me to disperse him again, at least for a few days. Continue to charge the Spirit Bomb, just in case. At the very least this will buy you more time."

"Alright." the two said together as they floated up a little more and resumed their previous pose.

Mikomi watched them for a moment before turning her focus back to the large Janemba. She floated toward him again and still he did not attack her. She came to a stop only a foot away from his face and slowly reached out a hand, touching her fingers against where his nose would have been had he had one.

The large yellow creature's body began to ripple, starting from where she touched and going all the way down its body. But, where as with Kuriiza the rippling and been smooth and uniform, this was not. As the ripples spread out further and further from the originating point they got more random in size and speed. And then his toes and fingers began to droop, as though melting. The rippling intensified and his body began to distort wildly.

Mikomi floated backward quickly as Janemba suddenly froze, even the rippling stopped, and his entire body began to melt as though he were a giant wax candle in an oven. She'd never seen such a reaction before so she moved back further just to be safe. And then the downward melting began to stop and reverse, the substance of Janemba's body raising up toward the point Mikomi had touched, a point that had turned into a small hole.

As she watched the melting body get sucked into itself she felt his power slowly start to rise. The increase going faster and faster as it went. /No!/ she cried mentally, drifting back further. /He must be reforming into his original state again!/ She turned toward Goku and Bardock quickly. "Hurry! I think my efforts are having the opposite effect I intended!" she cried.

The two Sai-jins nodded as Mikomi turned to face the transforming Janemba again. His body had pulled up almost all the way now and a pair of normal sized feet had emerged. Those were soon followed by his legs and tail, his body, his arms, and then the last of the giant yellow body was sucked into the hole in his forehead and it sealed up. Yellow eyes with black iris-less pupils, red skin, and silver-blue exoskeletal armor. This was the Janemba she remembered.

She readied to fight him some more while the Sai-jins finished forming their attack. /He's as strong as he was before./ she thought. /I've gained in power since then so now I'm slightly stronger than him but... our powers are still close./ She quickly slipped into a defensive position as she watched Janemba to see what he would do.

Janemba, however, wasn't paying her any attention. Instead he was staring at his hands as he opened and closed them. His shoulders shook once, slightly, and then again, a soft laugh escaping from his lips. The laugh slowly built in volume until he suddenly threw his arms and head back and began laughing excitedly. "Alive!" he cried as he continued to laugh. "Alive!"

He lowered his head and took a deep breath, a large grin on his face. "Remember." he said, eyes locking onto Mikomi. His body tensed and then a red aura flared up around him. "Kill!" And in a burst of energy he surged toward her. The Supreme Kai started to dodge but his arm suddenly shot out, extending along its length, and slammed into her stomach doubling her over.

"Oh man." Goku said as he watched Janemba surge in the rest of the way and slam an elbow into the stunned Kai's face. "One of us should go down there and help her..." he trailed off as Jameba wrapped his arms around Mikomi and dove toward the ground.

"It's going to take long enough forming this with both of us at it." said Bardock. "Especially with the power he just gained. And I don't think one of us would make much of a difference." The Sai-jin cringed as Janemba, still holding the Supreme Kai, slammed into the ground at full speed. "At least he doesn't seem interested in us right now, that should give us the time we need to finish."

As the Sai-jin finished a thunderous explosion erupted below, from where the two fighters had hit, and a brillaint flash of blue nearly blinded the pair in the sky. Janemba was thrown a hundred yards into a rock pillar which then shattered and collapsed ontop of him. Mikomi now stood inside a blast crater brushing dust off of her torn clothes.

The debris from the collapsed rock pillar exploded in a flash of red a second later and Janemba surged back out. As he flew he thrust an arm out to the side and then whiped it forward. One of the giant jellybeans floating near-by suddenly dislodged itself from its location and rocketed toward the Kai. Mikomi's eyes flashed as it neared and it exploded into dozens of peices.

But Janemba was right behind it and he lashed out with a hard left. She saw it coming and slipped around it before slaming both of her hands, palms open, into his chest, and then hitting him with a blast of energy that knocked him flying up and back. He recovered quickly and pulled to a stop just in time for her fist to slam into his face and knock him back further.

She went to follow that up with a kick but Janemba suddenly disolved and then reformed behind her where he slammed his knee into the small of her back and then jammed his elbow down into the top of her head. She surged down toward the ground but at the last second managed to swerve off to the side and avoid crashing. Quickly she arced out around and back in toward him and the two began a fierce exchange of close range attacks.

As the exchange continued Janemba began to gain the upper hand before suddenly slamming his tail into the side of her head. He then reached out his right arm to his side and there was a flash of red and black energy as a sword formed. With a laugh he quickly thrust the sword forward impalling the Kai through the gut.

"Oh man!" Goku cried, eyes going wide as he watched Janemba swipe his arm to the side and fling the injured woman toward the ground before shooting a ball of red and black energy after her.

"I've got her!" Bardock said, lowering his arms. "Keep working on the Spirit Bomb!" Goku gave him a nod as the elder Sai-jin vanished, speeding down toward the falling Kai. He reached her a second later caught her as she flew into him. And then he dodged to the side to avoid the incoming energy blast and dropped down to the ground just a few feet below him. "You ok?" he asked as he set her down onto her feet.

She grimaced a little but gave him a nod as she held a hand against her injury. "Yes, I'll live." she said. The blade had pierced her along the side of her abdomen so he doubted anything vital had been hit, if Kai's had anything vital, but blood was soaking into her clothes. As the energy blast impacted the ground and exploded several dozen yards away her hand began to glow as she worked on healing the injury, eyes watching Janemba for any sign he'd resume his attack.

But the creature, though scowling at them, didn't seem to be interested in resuming his assualt just yet. "I had forgotten just how difficult of an opponent he truly is." she said. "When there were five of us, with Muzai being so much more powerful than him, he was far easier to handle." She winced and lowered her hand. "It's no good. I can't heal the injury."

"Why not?" Bardock asked.

"Because of our natures." she explained. "Remember, he is made of pure evil. Evil and good are polar opposites. Just as the Spirit Bomb can do great harm to him for this reason so too can he do exceptional damage to me." She sighed and grimaced as she straightened up a little. "Unfortunately it seems his evil is even more concentrated than my own purity is, thus giving him an edge in our battle."

Bardock frowned and looked up at the Spirit Bomb. /Looks like there really isn't much choice but to lend her a hand./ he thought. /But one of us wouldn't be enough help while both of us means we can't form the Spirit Bomb. Damn it! There has to be something we can do.../

Mikomi reached back a hand and rested it on Bardock's shoulder as she turned and looked back and up at him. "Do not worry. Continue with forming the Spirit Bomb and I will stall him until it is ready. After he is defeated I can return to the Kai Plane where I will be able to recover more easily."

Bardock frowned as he looked down at her and then back up to where Goku was still drawing in energy for the Spirit Bomb. Finally something she had just said sunk in. "Kai Plane?" he asked, looking back toward her. "You can recover better there?"

She nodded. "Yes, the Kai Plane is home to the highest concentration of good in Shinkai." she said. "It will aid in my..."

"What if we take him there?" Bardock asked, looking toward Janemba. "Would that make it easier to deal with him?"

She shook her head. "No." she said. "It would be impossible to take him there. For the same reason we Kais can not enter Hell he would be unable to enter our Plane."

Bardock frowned and nodded. "Right." /Damn, there goes that idea. Now what?/

The Sai-jin didn't have time to further consider that as Janemba decided he'd waited long enough and charged toward him and Mikomi. The Supreme Kai saw him coming and quickly shot up to meet him so as to keep Bardock out of danger. He watched as the two of them began to fight again but it was clear the Kai's injury was hindering her performance. Janemba had the clear edge now and was focusing as many attacks as possible at her injury while trying to inflict more with further slashes and stabs of his sword.

Bardock shot up into the air until he was at about the same level as the two fighters and shook his head. /Guess we've only got one option then. It'll take longer but it's better than letting her get herself killed./ he thought. Turning he looked up toward where his son floated. "Goku!" he called. "Seal it up and let it go for now. We need to give her hand. We'll wear the freak down some so he's not such a hassle and then we'll blast him."

Goku turned and looked down at him from where he floated and then nodded. He then closed his eyes and focused for a moment and the Spirit Bomb flashed and stablized allowing him to leave it floating there alone without losing any of the gathered power. That done, he floated down beside Bardock and looked to where the fight was still going. Mikomi had cast them both glances upon hearing and seeing their exchange but was too focused on Janemba's assault to do or say anything to them.

"What do you think?" Goku asked. "As is?"

Bardock smirked and nodded. "Yeah. With the Supreme Kai here that should be enough. Besides, while he's got some fancy tricks he's all about raw power. Even with his power advantage we should be able to keep up, so long as we work together."

"Alright." Goku said as he flashed gold, Bardock doing the same a second later. Then the two Sai-jins hunched over slightly and clenched their hands into fists. "It'll be fun to finally go all out like this."

Bardock gave him a glance and a smirk and then both of them let out yells as their golden auras flared to life and swelled. Janemba and Mikomi ceased in their battle as both turned to look at the Sai-jins. The rushing power around them kicked up a fierce wind that began to ruffle Mikomi's clothes, the nearest giant jellybeans started to drift away from the force of it, and the dust and rocks on the ground fifty yards below began to lift into the air and swirl around them.

Their screams grew louder and louder as the force of their outwashing power intensified. The ground began to quake and loud bangs resounded as the gaint jellybeans began to slam into each other as they were pushed away. Their hair waved about in the updraft of wind and slowly began to lengthen and stand up more. Mikomi's eyes widened as she turned to fully face the Sai-jin pair. "Are... are their powers... increasing!"

Their auras brightend further, to the point the two Sai-jins couldn't be seen, and then there was a flash and rush of wind as their yells died down. And then the light vanished and Mikomi could see them again. Their hair was now taller and spikier and Goku was left with only three bangs, Bardock just two. Their musscles had increased slightly as well. And their power's had climbed considerably.

Goku blinked and turned to look at Bardock. "Hey! No fair!" he cried.

XXX

Near the Entrance to Hell

The four of them had paused once, a few minutes earlier, when they'd felt Janemba's power suddenly increase. Gohan had been concerned for his father and grandfather but they had soon pressed on. He knew they didn't really have much choice. Plus, he knew that the Supreme Kai was back there and he could tell she was still stronger than Janbema.

Now Kibito descended toward the ground with the three Sai-jins following suit. They'd flown a good distance from where they'd encountered Janemba and were, at last, at the entrance into Hell. It was an unimposing thing, nothing like what any of them had expected. They stood now at the base of a large mountain before what almost looked like a regular cave about twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide.

The only thing that really set it apart from any other cave was the fact the entrance looked like a 20 foot tall snake's head with its mouth open, and the fact that the inside of the cave was made of diamond shaped red stones. They were perfectly smooth and formed an arch over the flat red walking path. It was a twisting and turning trail that was soon lost around a bend.

"This is the entrance into Hell, the red Snakeway." Kibito said. "If you follow this trail to the end you will find yourselves in Hell."

"Umm, how long is this thing?" Gohan asked. "I remember Grandpa telling me about the path he and dad took to get to King Kai's being like this, and it was really long."

Kibito shook his head. "I can't say." he replied. "Very few have ever taken the trail and none that have have mentioned its length."

"Terrific." Vegeta muttered.

"The Demons came up this way, right? So it can't be too long." Videl reasoned.

"Or they came through more of those tears." Vegeta said.

Videl sighed. "Oh, right. Those."

Kibito nodded. "And we don't know which ones lead where." he said. "So passing through them to get to Hell isn't an option for us."

"Well, let's get going." Gohan said, taking a step toward the entrance. He stopped when he felt something back the way they'd come from. He turned to look and reached out his senses a little more to try and figure out what it was he'd felt.

"Gohan?" Videl asked. "What is it?"

"I... don't know." he said. "I thought I felt..." he trailed off as a golden light flickered in the distance and his eyes widened. "No way!"

"Is... is that Goku and Bardock?" Videl wondered.

Gohan nodded. "I... think they're... transforming..." he said. "But... how?"

Vegeta scowled and let out a low growl. "Isn't it obvious?" he said, turning to face the 'cave' again as the two Sai-jins finished their transformation. "The power we'd felt before, when they fought Cell, they were only Super Sai-jins then. Now we are seeing their power at the second level."

His scowl deepend as he felt their powers and felt just how much stronger than him Goku was. /So, I was right./ he thought. /Their second level is also a greater increase than ours, the form can be improved, just like the first level can. Just you wait, Kakkarotto, one of these days I will surpass you./

"This is... remarkable." Kibito said in disbelief. "They are... nearly as powerful as the Supreme Kai."

Vegeta snorted. "Let's go." he said walking forward and stepping into the path to Hell.

Gohan and Videl glanced at each other, both having the same thought. Their little expidition had quite likely just gotten a little less pleasant. Now they'd have to deal with Vegeta's damaged ego. They both sighed and walked toward the cave as well. But, while Videl was able to enter without issue, Gohan smacked into an invisible barrier.

"Huh? What the...?" he wondered as he stumbled back. He reached out a hand toward the entrance and felt the same force once again push back at him. It wasn't like there was an invisible wall there, but some sort of texturless elastic surface. It gave under his touch but the more it gave the more it forced back until, eventually, it forced back harder than he could push it.

"What's wrong, Gohan?" Videl asked, having heard his cry of shock.

"I can't get through." he said, still testing the give.

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta demanded as he stopped and looked back.

"I mean some sort of force wont let me cross." replied the teen.

Videl turned around and walked back to the entrance and tested it. She found no resistance going out so she tried going back in and still noticed no resistance. Meanwhile Gohan continued to push his hand against the force and be pushed back. "That's odd, I didn't have any problems." she said.

Gohan turned toward Kibito. "Any ideas?" he asked.

The man pursed his lips a little and walked over to the entrance. He, too, reached out a hand toward it. His hand reached in further than Gohan's had before it was forced back as well. "Is it possible?" he wondered softly.

"Is what possible?" Vegeta demanded. "Why can't the brat get through?"

Kibito was silent for a moment as he considered it. He had trouble believing that it was possible but yet... it seemed the only possibility. "If I am correct." he began at last. "The force blocking Gohan is the same force that prevents Mikomi or I from entering Hell." The tall man gazed at the difference in distance between his and Gohan's hands as he continued. "And if so, then his concentration of purity exceeds my own."

"Purity?" Videl asked, turning to look at Gohan. "Well, I guess that does kind of fit him. His whole family, really." Gohan just laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Either way, it means that he can not join you." Kibito said. "He lacks the means to enter Hell."

Vegeta snorted. "All he needs to do is transform." the royal said. The corner of his mouth lifted up slightly in a small smirk. "I doubt the Gohan that fought Cell seven years ago would have any issues crossing that boundry."

Gohan frowned at that statement but didn't protest the point. Vegeta was right, after all. The transformation wasn't just an increase in energy, there was a shift in mindset as well. Sure, after the initial anger and rage faded you could still function as you would normally, but there was still that little bit in there somewhere. It's one reason he'd limited his use of the second level the last seven years.

There was a flash and burst of gold as he transformed to the first level and then he stepped forward again. This time he passed clear through the entrance without issue and he felt no resistance to his passing at all.

"Amazing..." Kibito said slowly. "Gohan, you'll have to remain transformed so long as you are in Hell." he said. "I do not know what would occur if you were to revert to normal. At the very least you would be pushed out of the plane. But... no one of your nature has ever been down there so that is only a guess."

Gohan nodded. "Alright. It's been a while since I've stayed transformed for a long period but I should be able to manage long enough to get the job done."

There was another flash of gold as Vegeta transformed as well. "See if you can keep up." he said with a smirk, and then in a flash of yellow he was off through the tunnel and out of sight in less than a second.

"Come on, we better catch up." Videl said as she transformed as well and took off.

"You'll have to let dad know." Gohan said. "He'll probably have trouble getting through too." And with that Gohan took off after Vegeta and Videl. 


	48. Azura's Intervention

A/N: I have a few response to give, so here they are.  
jeff - 'as is' was included for just that reason. I like adding suspense. :) Stewart - Table came into existence far too late for him to be integrated into this series, unfortunately. There's just no way to logically do it. Avo and Kado, on the other hand, my find themselves a spot somewhere in Saga 7. I've not decided if I want to try and work them in yet or not (Saga 7's already completely planned, so adding them would force me to change a good bit of stuff).  
Username Hidden - No, MFG was the only place to find the PL lists currently. Once the saga is over, though, I'll upload the complete list to Google Docs and provide a link in the final chapter for those curious.

Chapter Forty-eight - Azura's Intervention

The four of them hit fairly stiff resistance from the other EDF members shortly after entering the Transport Center. They managed to get in just fine, Jairel's access code worked on the front door lock override as well as it worked on the locks at the Detention Center. The front lobby had been void of any occupants upon their arrival as well. At least, at first.

A small group of EDF soldiers entered the room less than thirty seconds after the four of them had. And, at first, they were friendly enough. A little wary of Autoro, but friendly since three of the four were EDF as well. And none of them were Zombies. But while Ward and Gard were negotiating access to a transport ship someone recognized Autoro.

With that little matter out in the open the soldiers stationed at the center became much less friendly. Which had resulted in Autoro knocking all of them unconscious, possibly killing a few of them. Gard, Ward, and Jairel weren't entirely sure, it had happened too fast and they had no interest in checking on pulses. Not when they weren't sure if they could turn into Zombies.

Since then Autoro had plowed his way through several halls and down multiple flights of stairs. The three EDF members keeping their distance to avoid getting caught in the battle, or associated with their current partner. But now they were standing before the doors to the transport bay. Autoro had already tried to open the door but his hand had been stopped by an invisible wall.

"Damn barrier fields." he muttered. He then turned to the others. "Can you guys disable this thing?"

"Not from here." Ward answered. "We'd have to find the command room first."

"Bah, no time for that." said Autoro as he turned back to the barrier. "How strong do you think it is?"

"No idea." said Jairel. "The ones at the Detention Center were good up to a million."

"Blast." the man growled. "I can only get up to five-hundred and seventy-five thousand." He turned slightly and scanned along the wall with his eyes and the helmet's sensors. He couldn't find any noticible weak points in the field or wall to exploit and cursed and stamped a foot. As he did a thought came to him and he looked down at the floor. Suddenly he began to grin, unseen by the others because of the helmet.

With a loud shout slammed his metal fist into the floor with as much force as he could muster. There was a loud clang as metal met metal and then a groan of protest as the floor strained under the impact. "Uh, wha... what are you..." started Gard. But before he could finish Autoro punched the floor again and this time it gave way falling into the hall below, the four of them dropping after it.

Autoro caught himself mid fall and floated the rest of the way down while the other three landed on their butts. He paid them no mind and checked the wall in front of him. "Heh heh heh. Autoro wins again." he said happily. There was no barrier here. He then thrust out his arm and fired a blast of energy into the wall blowing open a path into the room beyond. Stepping through he looked up and found the ceiling void of reinforcement as well.

With another cry and blast of energy he blew open a path up into the transport bay. He then looked back out into the hall. "You bozos just going to sit there all day or what?" he asked, before flying up.

The three of them glanced at each other before following after him. At this point there really wasn't any other choice. Even if they were a bit... concerned about how this was going to play out. Reaching the bay area they looked around for Autoro until they heard an explosion. Hurrying that way they found him standing in the middle of one of the launch lanes, arm outstretched. He'd just blown a hole through one of the bay doors.

"Alright, we'll take this one." he said, turning to one of the high speed chase cruisers. "We should be able to get to North City in about a day's flight with this baby."

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta

The kids had been running towards the arena for nearly ten minutes now and were almost half way there. Running wasn't nearly as fast as flying. Still, they were making good time. The battle raging in the city was driving them forward faster and faster. They could feel the powers there fluctuating wildly as they launched one attack after another with everything they could muster. But even so, Cell exceeded everything they could launch at him.

Then, suddenly, they felt a sharp power spike and came to a stop. "That's uncle Raditz!" Goten cried, eyes wide.

"No way... he's almost as strong as Cell." Sakura said in shock.

There was a flash of gold in the distance and the ground beneath them vibrated noticeably a moment later. "It has to be a Tri-beam..." Cheri said slowly. She couldn't think of any other move capable of something like this. But she'd never felt one so powerful before. And then a second flash of light and set of vibrations came.

"Do you think... this could stop him?" asked Goten.

Cheri bit her lip as she witnessed a third flash indicating another Tri-beam. She moved her focus from Raditz's power to that of Cell's and shook her head. "No." she said at last. "It is hurting him but... not enough." As she finished there was a fourth flash. "We should keep going."

"Yeah." Trunks said with a nod. But no one moved. A fifth flash had come and with it Raditz's power had vanished. It hadn't dropped like he'd just been knocked out or injured. It was just... gone. It only took them a moment to realize exactly what that meant and that kept them rooted were they stood.

"Is that mommy?" Akemi asked, breaking into the silence. The other kids took a moment to realize another power had flared up. Almost as high as the power Raditz had put out at the start of his assault. A power that, thanks to the damage Cell had taken, was stronger than the Bio-droid.

And then a new light lit up in the distance. Far brighter than the previous golden flashes had been. When it faded the kids could no longer sense Cell. Sakura swallowed and then started to smile. "They... they did it!" she cried happily. "They did it!"

"He's gone?" Goten asked hopefully.

Sakura nodded. "I can't sense him anymore. They had to have beat him!"

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Hotaru left out a sigh as she plopped down onto the ground. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit." she said, still breathing a little heavily. "I need some time to rest."

"That's not really a good idea." Piccolo said. "Not in your condition."

"I'll stay with her." Nova offered.

The Namek thought for a moment and then nodded before turning to the Senator. "Let's head back and figure out what to do now. We can come back for Gainin and Mijima later." he said. The Sai-jin gave him a nod and then the two lifted into the air and flew off.

Hotaru watched them go for a moment before letting out another sigh and falling onto her back. She'd charged that attack faster than she should have, especially after how hard she'd fought against Cell before hand. "I don't think I'm going to be of much help at all for... a while." she said. "I've not been this tired in years."

"I have to say, this isn't quite what I was expecting when I came here." Nova said. "I never dreamed there would be so many people so powerful." She shook her head and sat down as well. "For so long the Cold Family were the strongest in the galaxy but now... they've been greatly and quickly surpassed. It's... incredible."

The Changeling looked toward the center of the crater where Cell had been standing a moment ago. "To have gained the power to defeat someone like Cell in just the four years between fighting Frieza and his appearance... my mind just can't wrap itself around such huge gains."

Hotaru laughed softly. "You'd be surprised how much I agree with you." Hotaru said. "About a year before the battle against Frieza on Namek, when I first went to Earth, my power was only just over four thousand, and even then only with the Kinryoku. By the time I was facing Frieza, I was up into the two or three hundred thousands I believe, when maxed out. Now, eleven years later, I'm nearly four hundred and fifty million."

Nova shook her head. "I've never heard of such power growth before." she said. "Even with the Cold Family power increases have been gradual, with the exception of new transformations."

"That's the biggest part of it." Hotaru said. "None of us would be nearly this powerful without transformations. On Earth and Namek I couldn't transform. Now I can transform three times. On Earth I could only increase my power three-fold with the Kinryoku. By the time I fought Frieza I could do five-fold. And in between all of that... I spent a year training with the Earth fighters with a Sai-jin instructor, got my power unlocked by the Guardian of Namek, and started training in increased gravity."

Hotaru tilted her head and looked toward Nova. "Look at the power you've gained since arriving here. You were able to defeat Cold earlier, right?"

Nova nodded. "Yes." she said. "With ease. Which is... something I am still coming to terms with. My line of the family has never been as powerful as the others. But now... even without the Invalesco I rival the power Frieza had in life. With it I surpass all but the power Kuriiza gained through the fruit."

"And Gainin and Mijima too, I'd wager." added Hotaru as she glanced toward the fallen siblings. Seeing them laying there reminded her of the others who died and she sat up suddenly feeling rejuvenated. There was work to do still. Enemies to drive back before this damage could be undone. Yamcha, Sango, Akira, they were counting on her and the rest to bring them back. Hiroshi...

Her thoughts trailed off as she considered the infant son of Gainin and Sango. He and Marron had been left in the care of Chi-Chi and Hercule when all of this started. "I'm going to head back." she said as she started climbing to her feet. "Things to do." She got to her feet and stumbled, falling onto her face. "My legs feel like Jell-O." she muttered.

Nova laughed a little and shook her head as she stood and moved over to where the Tanarian lay. Bending down she lifted her up and drapped one of the woman's arms over her shoulders and wrapped one of her own around the Tanarian to help hold her up.

"Thanks."

"No problem." replied the Changeling.

As the two of them turned to go a powerful breeze suddenly blew across the blasted landscape and with it came a building power. Hotaru's eyes widened and she turned to look toward the source of the energy, the center of the blast crater, and saw a small pulsing light. "No... way..." she breathed, her voice a mix of shock and despair. It hadn't worked, Cell was still alive and now they were in no shape to fight him.

The sound of the Tanarian's voice drew Nova's attention and her own eyes widened in shock. "That's not possible!"

"Go!" Hotaru yelled, pulling away from Nova and then collapsing, her legs still unable to hold her up. "Get away before he finishes regenerating."

"What? And just leave you?"

"You can make it if you go without me." Hotaru said, shaking her head as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "I'll just slow you down."

"I'm not just leaving you here." Nova said as she bent down and picked Hotaru back up. "No way. Now, stop arguing and let's go."

Hotaru looked up at her and nodded. She draped her arm over the Changeling's shoulder again. The two were about to turn toward the palace and take off when the breeze died and Cell's power stopped growing. They both froze and turned to face his direction again. He was facing the opposite direction and staring at his hands.

"Go." Hotaru said, quietly.

Nova nodded, turned toward the palace, and then shot off at full speed, red aura trailing behind her, and making sure not to lose hold of Hotaru. She pulled to a stop a second later as Cell appeared in front of her, smirking. "Going somewhere?" he asked. His eyes then moved to Hotaru. "You didn't think I'd let you go that easily, did you? Certainly not after what you did to me."

She didn't wait for Cell to do anything, she simply turned and took off in another direction. When he appeared in front of her again she swerved off another way and kept going. But she came to a dead stop a second later as a powerful hand grabbed her by the ankle. In the sudden jerk from stopping she felt her leg dislocate from her hip and Hotaru slip from her grip.

She turned from the falling Tanarian to face Cell, a ball of red energy flaring up in her right hand. "Flamma!" she cried, thrusting her arm forward. The energy in the attack was weak but it wasn't a direct physical attack. The energy quickly super heated the air and turned into wave of flame by the time it hit Cell's hand. The Bio-droid left out a yelp of pain as he released her and jerked back.

Nova turned her focus back toward the ground and saw Hotaru still a few feet up. In a blast of red she surged down to catch her but, just feet away, was jerked to a painful stop as Cell grabbed her already dislocated leg. He gave her leg a hard yank pulling her up toward him as he lashed out with a kick.

His foot slammed into her back with a thunderous crack and Nova cried out as she felt pain lance up along her spine as it snapped. He then flipped her up so that her feet were towards the ground and wrapped his fingers around her throat. "You are really starting to piss me off." he growled as his grip tightened.

Nova clawed at his hand as she fought to get free, to get away. And then, suddenly, the pressure was gone, Cell's hand was gone. As her mind processed this, catching up to the current situation so she could formulate a plan of escape, she saw an energy blade flare to life around the Bio-droid's hand. And then his arm arced through the air, her eyes snapped wide, and her body and head fell to the ground, separately.

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta

"No way!" Trunks cried, breaking into the celebrations of the others. They didn't have to ask what his cry was for as they felt Cell's power themselves an instant later. "Oh man, we've got to hurry. They can't fight him anymore!"

"Come on, let's go!" Sakura called, determined. "No more sneaking around, we fly, full speed!"

The others all nodded as they lifted into the air and sped off. "Trunks, Goten, don't wait for us." Cheri said as they flew along. "Go ahead, you can get there faster on your own, we'll catch up."

"You sure?" Trunks asked. Both Cheri and Sakura nodded. "Alright. You heard them Goten, let's move."

"Right!" the other agreed as both flashed gold and sped off. A moment later they saw a burst of silver as well as Goten used the Kinryoku to go even faster.

"Goten's got the right idea." Cheri said. "You two go on ahead too, I'll catch up."

Sakura nodded as she glowed orange and transformed. "Akemi, grab on and hold tight." she ordered. Her sister nodded and quickly climbed onto her back wrapping her arms around her neck. She knew her little sister was faster than her at her maximum but the younger girl had trouble reaching it so this was just easier. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!"

Cheri watched as Sakura and Akemi sped off into the distance. She cast a glance back behind her toward the distant palace and the even more distant city. "Mom... dad... hang on until we can get help." she said softly, before turning forward again.

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace

Celebrations at the palace had broken out about the same time as the kids had started to celebrate. And they had ended at about the same time. "Damn it!" Vadora cried, staring into the distance. "What's it take to kill him?"

"I don't remember him being this persistent before." Tien said. "Something must have changed..."

"What about the others?" asked Pug.

"Piccolo and Senator Vegeta just turned back toward Cell." Vadora answered. "But they don't have a chance now. Hotaru and Nova..." she trailed off and looked behind her. "Is that the kids?"

Tien nodded. "Yeah, that's them alright. Where are they going and how did they get so far away?"

"Where ever they're going they're going there in a hurry." said Vadora as she felt them transform. "They're heading in the direction of the arena, I think..."

Vadora trailed off as she heard Tsunamo's scouter beep. The Changeling reached up and activated it. "What is it, Hydra?" he asked. A second later his eyes widened. "Are you sure?" he asked, followed by more silence. "Damn. Who all knows? ... Good, don't let anyone else find out for now. If word spreads we'll have chaos up there, not to mention back home..."

"What is it?" Tien asked as the Changeling lowered his hand again.

Tsunamo shook his head. "Queen Nova's power reading just vanished."

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Hotaru let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground on her back. She'd barely had the strength to slow her fall and the impact, at her current level, had still jarred her, and possibly cracked a few bones as well. But her focus wasn't on her own pain at the moment but on where Nova was struggling with Cell just a few dozen yards above her.

The Changeling had just been kicked in the back and Hotaru winced as she heard the the woman's spine snap even from where she lay on the ground. She tried to do something, anything, to help her, even just a blast of energy to distract Cell, but she couldn't muster any power. And then her eyes widened as the Changeling Queen's head was severed.

"Damn him!" she growled, barely above a whisper as she tried to push herself back into a sitting position. She was in worse shape now than she had been following her earlier attack. She couldn't focus enough to even get her legs to cooperate. Forget flying, she couldn't even stand up.

As Cell turned to face her she closed her eyes and dropped down onto her back again. /Sorry guys./ she thought. /I tried. I gave it everything I had. Sakura, Akemi, stay safe until the others get back./

Cell's laughter reached her ears then and from the proximity she could tell he was floating right above her. "It's nice to see someone who finally gets it." he said. "You can't defeat me. See, isn't this so much better? Just resigning yourself to your fate? No pointless hoping for the impossible, no crushed dreams when faced with the inevitable.

Hotaru opened her eyes and glared up at the Bio-droid. She slowly lifted her arms over her and began to motion with her hands. "Shika-Shidou... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Her attempt at forming a final attack ended in a scream of pain as a bolt of purple energy punched through her left shoulder shattering the bone and breaking all of her concentration.

"I think you've done enough of those for today." Cell said as he shifted his arm and pointed his fingers in another direction. Another bolt of purple energy surged out again but this time Hotaru gritted her teeth and bit her tongue to stop from screaming as it tore through her right elbow. "Like shooting fish in barrel." he laughed as he fired another beam through her left knee.

Hotaru fought to keep her mouth closed and not to scream. She wanted to at least deny him that much. But she was unable to hold back the scream when the energy disc he'd formed a second before sliced down through her right thigh fully severing her leg. The Bio-droid stopped there and turned to look behind him as he felt a pair of quickly nearing powers. "Ah, the cavalry." he said, laughing. "But I'm afraid they will be too late."

He floated down to land beside Hotaru's head and then pressed a foot down against the side of her head forcing it into the ground. Her eyes widened and she gasped in pain as he increased the pressure but she didn't have the energy to struggle, to even try and get free. "Good-bye." he said, smirking, as he put all of his power into his leg and forced his foot down into the ground beneath her head.

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Galactic Games Arena

Goten pulled to a stop as he reached the pulsing light of the tear. As he stared at it he realized he had no idea how the thing worked. Did he just fly up to it and it would let him through? "Well, only one way to find out!" he declared as he flew a little closer.

He was just a couple feet away when it suddenly flashed and swelled in size giving him a clear opening through to the other side. Goten smiled as he gazed through to the world beyond. He quickly glanced behind him and sensed out the others. Trunks was gaining quickly but everyone else would be a couple minutes yet. He let his silver aura fade and his hair revert to black as he waited on Trunks.

A few seconds later his friend pulled up and stopped in a burst of gold as he reverted as well. "What are you waiting for Goten!"

"You!" Goten cried. "I don't know what's going on over there, I didn't want to go through by myself."

Trunks shook his head. "Whatever, come on, let's go. The others can catch up."

"Right."

And with that the two of them flew into the tear.

ZZZ

Mortal Plane, Planet Namek, Namek's Lookout

Azura's features shifted slowly into an expression she seldom wore. A scowl. She had just felt Cell's energy returning again, after having moved her focus to other areas of the world. Turning her attention back to his location once more she looked in just in time to see Nova killed.

"Something is not right." she murmured.

"Is there something wrong?" asked a young voice from behind her.

She glanced back at the young Namek who had joined her on the Lookout only two months before. The planet's future Guardian, the one who would one day replace her. She had hand picked him herself that day, two months before, to begin his training. She knew she wouldn't be around much longer, she could feel it. A few more years, a decade, perhaps two. She wasn't expecting to die, but she had completed her training with the Elders. It would soon be time to move on.

Pushing those thoughts aside she turned to look forward again. "Not on our world." she said. "But on Vegeta."

"Are we not supposed to restrict our focus to just our own world?" asked the Namek.

Azura smiled faintly. "More than just supposed to." she replied. "Our powers are limited to our own world. There is little we can do outside our own planet beyond observe. And even then such observation normally requires a link with the Guardian of that world."

"Normally?"

"Yes. However, this is not a normal circumstance. Tatamo, the Guardian of Vegeta, has departed to Otherworld to help in its protection. Just before crossing the boundry he asked me to keep watch on things for him and granted me some temporary powers. However, I can still do little more than watch."

This information was partly true, at least. Had there been a need for him to grant her such powers he could have done so, but she was perfectly capable of observing the distant planet on her own. "Damn." she muttered as Hotaru was killed. "There's something wrong but... I can't place the problem."

She glanced to her side as Molsk stepped up beside her and gazed into the bright green sky clasping her hand in his own so that he could see what she could. She turned her focus back to the distant world now and focused on that odd feeling she was having. It annoyed her that she could not place the sensation. There was a strong familiarity to it but she couldn't quite grasp what it was.

"What is that odd feeling?" Molsk asked.

"That, my young friend, is the problem. I don't know." Azura replied. "Or, more accurately, I can't remember. It feels like something I was taught about, but that was so long ago, and the memory of the sensation is too vague to place a meaning with it. I do know this, however. If something is not done soon Planet Vegeta will fall."

"But what can we do? Our purpose is to guide and oversee, not to fight. And even then we are too far away and too weak to fight such a creature."

"We do not just guide and oversee." Azura said softly. "We do fight, we do intervene, when we feel the situation worthy of such. It is not just our duty to help guide the people of our world into Heaven but to protect them from evils not of this universe. In such situations as this, where an unnatural event threatens our world, we may intercede as we feel necessary."

She turned from the distant world as she witnessed the deaths of two more of its greatest defenders. "And if we are to intercede in this we must do so quickly, before the situation becomes worse."

"I don't understand." said Molsk. "What do you plan to do when we are not a match in battle?"

Azura laughed softly. "Your mind set proves you are truly the son of a warrior." she said. "But you must learn to think outside the realm of fighting. Sometimes the solution is not to enter battle yourself but to aid those already there." As she spoke she walked across the Lookout to the opposite edge and gazed down toward the planet, Molsk once again at her side, watching her.

-Moray, do you hear me?- she asked telepathically.

-I hear you Azura. What has happened?-

-Planet Vegeta is nearly defenseless.- she replied. -A problem that must be rectified as Cell still roams the world.-

-Do you know what you want?-

-Yes. Have all of those killed today by Cell brought back.-

-Understood.-


	49. Battle in the HFIL

Chapter Forty-nine - Battle in the H.F.I.L.

"Huh?" Bardock asked, turning to face Goku.

"You never told me you'd gotten stronger than me!" Goku cried.

Bardock raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Not by much." he said. "But I told you the form could be improved further. You didn't want to listen."

"But... I'd already tried." Goku pouted. "I couldn't get it any better than I already had. How'd you...?"

Bardock chuckled. "How about we save this discussion until AFTER the evil monster is dead?"

Goku blinked. "Oh, right." he said, turning his focus back to where Janemba floated with the Supreme Kai. The creature was only a few feet away from her but its eyes were now on the two Sai-jins as it began to scowl.

"Ready, Goku?"

"Ready!"

"Then let's go!" As Bardock's voice rang out the two of them shot in toward Janemba in bursts of brilliant gold. The creature's eyes widened in shock as they neared. His surprise slowed his reaction time and when the two Sai-jins reached him a moment later they each slammed a fist into his face knocking him back and away. The two of them then pulled to a stop to float beside the Supreme Kai.

"This is... incredible." Mikomi said as she gazed at the two of them. "No mortal has ever had this much power."

Bardock grinned as he crossed his arms. "We've still got a ways to go yet before we've even fully tapped the power of this form." he said. "You'd have seen this earlier, after that Maku guy started smacking us around, but you stepped in before we had the chance to transform." His grin then widened as he slipped into a battle stance, Janemba had just pulled to a stop and was scowling at them even more now. "Heh, and we still have a few tricks left up our sleeves. So, what do you say we finish off this freak and get back to business?"

Mikomi looked at the two fighters before her and then nodded and joined them in facing Janemba. "Do you have some sort of plan, then?" she asked.

"How long does it usually take this guy to reform after being blasted apart?" Bardock asked.

"Only a few minutes."

The Sai-jin pursed his lips and glanced over to Goku. His son apparently had the same thought, he could see it in his eyes. A few moments of peace to work on making the Spirit Bomb wasn't much, not for one that needed this much power. Still, neither of them could see much choice. "Well, we'll pound him down and then use those few moments to work on the Spirit Bomb again. And then just repeat the process until we've got enough energy to take him out with."

Mikomi nodded. She knew also that there were some problems with that plan but it was still their best chance. "Just be careful now. Do not forget, you are alive once more. Your bodies are no longer as durable as they were before."

"That's ok, I don't plan on getting beaten up like before." Bardock said with a grin.

Meanwhile Goku was now stretching out his legs and and loosening up his shoulders where he floated beside them. "Haha, this is going to be great!" he cried a moment later as he clenched his hands into fists and grinned.

Across the way Janemba scowled further and then growled, his eyes locking onto Goku. And then in a burst of red he surged in toward the Sai-jin, completely ignoring the other two. Goku slipped around the sword slash, spun, and then slammed his heel into the side of Janemba's head. As the creature faultered, momentarily stunned, Bardock came down from above and slammed a knee into his back driving him toward the ground.

But before Janemba could drop more than a couple feet the Sai-jin reached out and grasped his tail. He then began to spin rapidly, quickly making four dozen rotations and building up considerable momentum before pitching him toward the ground. Janemba was just about to hit when he suddenly disolved, top to bottom, as though he were passing through the ground.

Goku let out a cry of pain and shock an instant later as Janemba, who had just materialized above him, jammed the butt of his sword into the top of the Sai-jins head. The impact knocked him down toward the ground but he recovered quickly and then spun around deflecting the creature's sword slash away from him.

The Sai-jin saw Bardock and Mikomi charge in toward him from behind and then the two reached him a moment later and each slammed a knee into the back of his head knocking him forward. Goku shot up quickly as Janemba recovered and took a swipe at his two new attackers. But Goku reached him and grabbed his arm bringing the sword swing to a hault and allowing the other two to move out of the way of the blade unharmed.

Janemba growled as his tail came up and then slapped Goku in the side of the head. "Annoying!" he called as he wrenched his arm free of the Sai-jin's grasp and then punched him in the face. His tail then whiped out behind him and smacked Bardock in the chest knocking him into the Supreme Kai as the two attempted another back attack.

Raising his sword before him it began to glow red and then he gave a quick slash through the air sending curved blade of energy in Goku's direction. The Sai-jin's eyes widened as he saw it coming and he quickly doged to the left where he found another one charging toward him. He slipped around it and then a third and a forth before letting out a cry of pain as a fifth one cut a deep gash along his right side. And then a sixth sliced down through his foot removing almost half of it.

He pulled back quickly as Bardock shot up in between them grabbing and twisting Janemba's wrist causing him to release and drop the sword. Meanwhile Goku pulled further away from the battle and closed his eyes, focusing. He'd not had to do this in seven years and, having been dead, hadn't really practiced it much since he didn't think he'd need it anymore. So it took a moment before he felt it working.

A glow formed from the wound in his side and from his foot. The glow coming from the end of his foot grew out and then slowly took on the shape of his foot and missing toes. A moment later both glows faded and he was back in one piece, though he still had only a half a shoe on his right foot so he reached down and quickly pulled off both boots before charging back in to the battle.

While he'd been healing Bardock and Mikomi had already moved in to a close range two on one fight against Janemba. Now that his sword was out of the way they were more willing to stick around for more than a few seconds. And with the two of them working together, even with Mikomi's injury, they were managing to land more hits on Janemba than he was on them. And as Goku joined the fray the creature began to scowl as he could no longer keep up with all of the incoming attacks.

He focused more on dodging or blocking Mikomi's blows than those of the Sai-jins as she was the only one stronger than him. As one of Bardock's kicks connected with his back and knocked him foward he suddenly spun and lashed out with his tail smacking both Sai-jins in the chest and sending them sailing away. Before Mikomi could launch another attack of her own he had, once again, disolved.

Righting himself Bardock looked down toward the ground where he could sense Janemba and saw him picking his sword back up again. In a burst of gold he surged down toward him, Goku right behind him. Janemba scowled up at them as they neared and then smirked. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and arched his back as he inhaled. They were only a few feet away when he leaned forward and forced the air from his lungs.

The two Sai-jins let out cries of shock and quickly swerved to either side of the surge of fire that had errupted from the creature's mouth. As he dodged Bardock snapped out an arm and fired a blast of golden energy at Janemba's head. The attack hit and exploded causing him to stumble and bringing the stream of flame to an end.

Before he could recover Goku surged in from behind and smashed both of his feet into his back knocking him foward. Mikomi was there waiting and slamed her open palms into his chest with a crack. There was a bright flash of blue an instant later and then a massive explosion that blasted out a crater a hundred yards across and sent Janemba sailing, once more, into a distant rock pillar that then came crashing down on top of him.

Suddenly two arms surged out of the dust cloud toward the three warriors. "Yipes!" Goku cried as the one still holding the sword took a slash at him. He dodged quickly to the left just avoiding the blade and then fired a blast of blue energy toward where Janemba still was within the dust.

"This guy doesn't play fair." he continued as he dodged around another sword swipe, just as his blast reached the dust cloud and exploded. With the dust blasted apart in the explosion Janemba surged into toward them as he retracted his arms, continuing to take swipes at Goku with his sword and jabs at the other two with his fist.

"Then maybe we should stop playing fair too." Bardock said with a grin. He moved around another punch and then shot in directly at Janema, his arms pulled back at his side and energy flared up around his hands. Bright pink and neon green. He was only feet away from the charging, laughing, and grinning creature when he brought his arms forward, slammed the energies together, and cried out. "Sonic Blast!"

There was a defeaning earsplitting crack that reverberated throughout the H.F.I.L. as the energies exploded, and then a loud screeching like nails on a chalk board echoed around them, but not before surging right passed Janemba's ears. Along with the sounds had come a violent explosion of bright white and purple light. Even with the attack directed at Janemba the sheer intensity of it still dazed Goku and Mikomi. But even with the ringing in their ears they could hear the shrill, angry, and agonzied screeches of Janemba who had been hit full force by both the sound and light.

Before either of the others could see again there was a series of rapid impact cracks and then a loud crash as something hit the ground. Goku's eyes began to clear then and he saw his father shooting up into the air over a cloud of rising dust and then pelting the area with blasts of golden energy. But then Janembea disolved into existence above and behind Bardock and lashed out with a sword swipe.

"Behind you!" Goku yelled as he surged up toward them. He'd tried, right before yelling, to teleport up there, but had been unable to do so.

Bardock heard his son's cry and brought his assault to an end. He turned quickly and started to dodge but Janemba's blade caught his left arm, just below the shoulder, and sliced it off. The creature went to thrust the blade into his chest next but Goku reached them and slammed a knee into his side, hitting the sword first and shattering it.

"You ok?" Goku asked, glancing at the stump of his arm. It wasn't bleeding anymore, the Sai-jin had already used his ki to seal it off.

"I'll be fine." Bardock said. "I'm not as good as you at creating new limbs, though. I'm out of the fight for a bit while I work on this."

Goku gave him a nod and turned to Mikomi who had floated up to join them. "Looks like it's just you and me for a few minutes."

"Right." she said, before turning her gaze to the elder Sai-jin's missing limb. "Though, I did not know that Sai-jins could regenerate."

Bardock smirked and laughed slightly as his arm stump began to glow a little. "We can't, not naturally. It's a little skill Goku picked up on another planet."

"Yeah, speaking of those, I can't Relocate." Goku said as he looked toward where Janemba was floating and staring at his broken weapon. "I tried to do it to get up here faster to help you but nothing happened. It felt like something held me back."

"It would be the distortions." Mikomi said as Janemba tossed away the useless sword and Bardock's glowing arm reached elbow length. "The same reason I was unable to transport us directly to the entrance to Hell."

"But he can still do it." Goku said, gesturing toward Janemba who was now scowling at them.

"He's at the center of this, though." Bardock said, motioning toward the transformed H.F.I.L. all around them. "He fits in here, this is his home fiel..." he trailed off, not even finishing the word, as a thought occured to him. "We need to get him out of here."

"Huh?"

"Janemba, we need to get him out of this distorted area and into the normal H.F.I.L. and fight him there."

"But why?"

Bardock looked down at his arm and flexed his new ki fingers. So far so good. But the next step was the hardest. "Because here he's got the advantage. This world is suited to him. I think, maybe, it's a part of him. That's how he's able to do everything he's done so far. The arm stretching, the teleporting, throwing that jellybean."

Mikomi nodded. "It's possible."

However, further discussion ended there as Janemba grew tired of waiting again and charged them. Mikomi and Goku saw him coming and then shot in to meet him. The Kai lashed out with a kick for his head while the Sai-jin aimed a punch at his abdomen. Both blows were blocked, the kick by Janemba's forarm and the punch by the hand of that same arm. The still free arm then lashed out and backhanded both of them.

As they were knocked back by that blow the creature spun around and slammed its tail into Goku's stomach, doubling him over, and then jammed his elbow down into the back of his head knocking him down into the ground with a thunderous crash. With a shake of his head to clear it he started climbing back to his feet again. He'd only gotten as far as his hands and knees when he suddenly pushed off with all his might and did a side flip onto his feet.

Janembea's feet impacted the ground where he'd been laying an instant later. The glass like surface exploded in a shower of debris as the creature plunged knee deep into it. With a growl of frustration he released a burst of red ki that blew apart the rock around him and then he surged in at the Sai-jin again. But Mikomi came charging in just then and slammed a foot into the side of his head.

Slipping around in front of him she then planted an elbow uppercut into his jaw and knocked him skyward. "Stay back a moment." she said, glancing back at Goku. "I am going to buy us a little time." And with that she shot after Janemba in a burst of blue white light. Goku glanced away and had to shield his eyes with his arms for a moment and when he looked back she'd almost reached Janemba already, a blue-white glow pulsing around her as though she were a neon light.

The creature had pulled to a stop and was waiting for her as she charged. But, just before she reached him, she suddenly shimmered and vanished, his yellow eyes widening in shock. She hadn't teleported, simply given a burst of sudden speed even greater than what she'd already been doing. Then she suddenly reappeared right in front of him, her arm already shooting forward, and then there was a loud crack as an open right palm slammed into his abdomen and doubled him over.

She shimmered and vanished again, only to appear behind him and drive her leg into the back of his neck. And then again she was gone. Goku watched on in amazement as she zipped around him delivering powerful blows everywhere she could. Abdomen, chest, back, head, neck, legs, and side. Anywhere an opening appeared as he recoiled from the previous hit.

The Sai-jin knew she was moving incredibly fast, faster than she should have been able to under normal conditions at her level. He could barely even sense her sudden shifts in direction as she darted around her opponent and Janemba had barely began to react to a blow before she was landing the next. And then she appeared behind him and jamed both of her open palms into his back launching him forward.

Vanishing in another burst of high speed she darted around in front of him, appearing several feet from where he was at the moment, crouched her body down slightly, leaning forward, and pulling her arms back as she readied for something, though the Sai-jin wasn't sure what. The blue glow around her began to grow bright and shift into more of a sparking electricity like aura, then it seemed to draw into her body and vanish.

And then he was within striking distance and she lashed out with a flurry of swings. Her arms were moving faster than Goku could see, he couldn't even note the blurs of her arms. It looked as though they stopped only inches from her shoulders. But the effects of her attacks were clearly visible. Each time her open hands slammed into Janebma there was a loud crack and a bright flash of blue which told Goku that each hit was accompanied by a low level, point blank, ki blast.

He lost track of the hit count quickly, he'd counted twenty but knew he'd missed several already and stopped trying. The creature jerked left and right and was being driven back as the blows rained down on him one after another. And then she shifted slightly, twisted in the air where she floated, and suddenly she was on her left side, feet towards Janemba and her right leg snapping back so her heel slammed into the side of his head.

Meanwhile her left foot snapped forward and she caught him in the neck with her leg. She pulled back from him, twisted again, and kicked him in the jaw with both feet as she back fliped away and came down facing him again, both arms pulled back behind her and blue lightning like energy snapping around her arms and gathering before her palms. And then there was a bright flash of light from the gathering energy and she thrust her arms foward, palms pointed at her opponent.

"Kibou Taihou!" she cried, the energy balls merging and then swelling and exploding into a massive wave of blue white energy that quickly engulfed Janemba. There was a shriek from Janemba, a bright red light built up inside the stream of blue white, and then there was a loud crack and a flash of darkness that seemed to drown out all the light for a moment, and then nothing. Mikomi had lowered her arms and ended her attack and there was no sign left of Janemba.

"What... was that?" Goku asked as he floated over to join her. She had bent over and put her hands on her knees as she panted, she seemed barely able to keep steady in the air. Bardock was still floating where they'd left him earlier, working on restoring his arm. "That speed you had earlier, and the attack just now..."

"The speed, as well as a power increase that came with it, was from the Shitennoken, an ancient technique created by the first four Supreme Kais to ever exist." Mikomi explained slowly as she continued to try and catch her breath. "It is highly taxing but quite effective, especially in conjunction with Tenkaiken, the fighting style we Supreme Kai's use. As for the attack, that was my Kibou Taihou, a move I created after Janemba's first appearance specifically for use against such threats."

"Well, it certainly did the trick." Goku said, blinking as he looked around, still seeing no trace of Janemba.

She shook her head. "He will be back." she said, straightening up as some of her strength began to return. "The nature of the attack, it draws upon my life force which is like poison or acid to a being such as Janemba, caused his body to be destroyed. But the evil that he is made from is more tightly bound than I can break and so remains intact, and so he will return. But I have bought us at least a few minutes."

"Well, that's good to know." Bardock said as he floated to join them. Most of his arm was still glowing which meant he'd not finished creating a new one yet. "This is taking longer than I expected. It's a lot harder to make a new arm than it is to fix cuts or broken bones. So, any thoughts for getting him out of this area when he comes back?"

"Well, we do not know how far we'd have to go to get out of this area, except for in that direction." said Mikomi, pointing the way they'd originally come from. "So if we are going to get him out into a normal area that is the direction we need to move in. It's not too far, which works to our advantage."

"The question is, how do we get him to go that way?" Goku wondered as he scrunched his face up in thought. "Do you think he'd just follow us?"

"Possibly," Mikomi began. "But assuming that Bardock is right and getting him beyond the distorted area will give us an advantage he may know this himself and realize what we are doing if we try to just lead him out."

"She's right. We can't just make him chase us." said Bardock. "We have to force him out. We'll need to work together and keep him occupied with fighting us and physically drive him to the edge of the area and outside of it." 


	50. Turning of the Tide

Chapter Fifty - Turning of the Tide

"Cell!" Piccolo cried, pulling to a stop a few dozen feet away, Senator Vegeta right beside him.

Cell turned from scowling at the mess currently stuck to his foot to scowling at the Namek and Sai-jin who'd just arrived. "I am sorry to inform you that you are too late to save anyone." he said, smiling. "But just in time for me to kill you."

Piccolo growled as he looked at the two dead women he and Senator Vegeta had rushed back to try and save. He couldn't figure out how Cell was still alive. Both Bardock and Hotaru's attacks should have destroyed him, and yet here he was still. Weaker than he'd started, yes, but still way too powerful for them to handle. Especially with him and Vegeta so much weaker than normal. He wasn't sure what to do about Cell, either.

His eyes widened a second later as a blast of purple energy zipped by him so fast he only realized it after it was already by him. He turned quickly and saw Senator Vegeta toppling over onto his back, a hole pierced through his heart. He turned to fire a blast of energy at Cell, despite knowing it was futile, but before he could even get all the way around a stream of orange energy engulfed him and he was dead before he even realized it was happening.

As Cell lowered his arm, smirking, he started to look around the area as he worked out his next objective. His job was to break down all the defenses on the planet, along with the others who'd come through, so that the world could be established as the primary base for the forces of Makai.

There were other tears into other worlds, all left ungaurded on the afterlife side, and some capable of offering decent resistance to the weakling fighters, but Planet Vegeta was the chosen world to take because it offered the greatest resistance. Great enough it's defenders had apparently beat back everyone else and gone on the offensive. A wholly unforseen circumstance. But not a problem, as far as Cell was concerned. The Sai-jins would soon learn that there were beings out there that even they couldn't defeat.

And his job was practically over now. The strongest defenders on the planet, in the entire Northern Galaxy and, as far as he knew, the mortal plane as a whole, were already dead. All that remained were the riff-raff who would, he knew, be presistant in their interference. All he needed to do was sense out where they were hiding and blast them, and then he could relax, take in a few sights, and enjoy being alive again.

His smirk turned into a grin as he felt a few powers in the distance that were vaguely fimiliar. The last of the best the planet had to offer, all gathered in one place. It was time to go say hello. He turned in that direction and flew off at a lesiurely pace. No reason not to enjoy the view on his way to them.

XXX

Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet

Goten and Trunks pulled to a stop as soon as they emerged from the tear. There had clearly been a lot of fighting here, too. There were people unconcious all over the place and people tending to them here and there. And some people staring up at them in a mix of surprise and confusion. But none of them looked like anyone they knew. No signs of Vegeta or the big Gotens that Cheri was sure were Goten's father and grandfather.

"Now what, Trunks?" Goten asked, looking over to his friend. "They're not here anymore!"

"I don't know... maybe we should ask someone?" he suggested, looking around. As he did he saw a green man flying over his way that sort of reminded him of Piccolo, but not. "He's as good as any, I guess." he said, pointing him out to Goten. "Hey mister, do you know where my dad is?"

"Your dad?" he asked, as he stopped a few feet away from them. His eyes glanced up and noticed the lack of halo over Trunks's head. "You boys shouldn't be here." he said. "This is not a place for the living."

"But we need help!" Goten cried. "Cell keeps coming back!"

He turned toward Goten and his eyes widened. "Goku?"

"Huh? My name's Goten." Goten replied. "Goku was my dad. Do you know him?"

The man nodded. "My name is Pikkon. Your father, grandfather, and I have fought each other a few times."

"Oh, cool! You must be re..."

"Not now, Goten!" Trunks cried, smacking his friend in the back of the head. "We've got a job to do." He turned back to the green man. "Do you know were my dad and the others are? We need them to come back and take care of Cell! Everyone else is dead!"

Pikkon shook his head. "They've already left for Hell." he said. He turned his gaze toward where the golden clouds should have been. "Goku and Bardock are currently helping the Supreme Kai with a problem in the H.F.I.L. and I can't sense the others through the powers of those four."

"Huh?" Trunks wondered, turning his gaze the same direction and stretching out his senses. "N-no way!" he cried, a moment later. "That's... they're all way stronger than my dad!"

Suddenly the tear flared up behind them again and they looked back in time to see Sakura and Akemi emerge. "Cheri's still on her way." she said, pulling to a stop beside them. "Piccolo and Senator Vegeta died just before I came through."

"Grandpa...?" Trunks asked. "Oh man... dad and the others are already gone! We're too late!"

"Hmm, what's all this commotion?" a new voice asked. Pikkon and the kids turned to see a man with long white hair and a white beard floating toward them.

"Grand Kai." Pikkon said with a nod. "These kids have come seeking Goku, Bardock, and the others. Apparently their world is still threatened."

"Everyone's dying!" Akemi cried, eyes tearing up.

"It's Cell." said Sakura. "He keeps surviving somehow, he's killed nearly everyone who stayed behind after the others came through to here."

The Grand Kai frowned and raised a hand before him, palm up, and an orb of light suddenly formed. It wasn't ki, the kids couldn't sense any power from it, but they were't sure what it was. Then the center of the blue light shimmered and a view of Planet Vegeta took shape. It shifted through the sky for a moment and then locked onto Cell who was flying over Saiya City at a decent pace.

"Ah, yes, I thought I recognized the name from seven years ago." he said. "He caused quite a stir here back then. Hmm, let's see what we've got..." He raised the ball of light a little higher and peered more closely at it. Suddenly his eyes widened and the ball vanished. "That is not good. Not good at all."

"What? What is it?" asked Sakura worriedly.

"It would seem that Cell's regeneration ability is part of the problem. I say part because it is a two part issue. The other part of the problem is the closed doors. Normally, when a person dies, their soul crosses into Otherworld instantly. With the doors closed the soul remains bound to any physical remains in the Mortal Plane upon their death. This is a problem in and of itself but it is compounded with Cell.

"It would seem that, so long as Cell's soul remains attatched to a piece of his being, he can continue to regenerate. In other words, with the doors closed, Cell is effectively immortal. He can not be killed until the doors are re-opened and we have no means with which to do that." the Grand Kai explained. He then turned to the green alien beside him. "Pikkon, I am leaving you in charge until I return."

"Sir?"

"Cell is a threat to the Mortal Plane that requires my intervention and abilities." he said. "I will see to stopping him myself."

"Really!" asked Goten, grinning. "Yay!"

"Now, all of you, back to the living world where you belong." Zenryou ordered. "And we shall deal with this problem." They all nodded happily and flew back through the tear, the Grand Kai right behind them.

The tear flashed and grew back on Planet Vegeta as Cheri neared it and she saw Trunks, Goten, Sakura, and Akemi emerge along with someone else she didn't know. "Did you find them?" she asked as she pulled up in front of Sakura.

"Dad and the others were gone." Trunks said. "But the Grand Kai said he'd stop Cell."

Cheri turned her gaze to the man who'd come through with her friends. "You're the Grand Kai?"

Zenryou smiled and nodded. "I am. Now, let's go deal with Cell. Everyone, grab on to me or someone else touching me."

The kids glanced at each oter for a moment and then did as asked. Suddenly the world around them went white for a split second and then, just as suddenly, came back into focus. But now they weren't floating just a few feet from the tear but over the edge of Saiya City. Cell was still a few moments away from where they'd appeared. Zenryou knew they'd feel better seeing for themselves that Cell was truly stopped but at the same time he didn't want to chance them getting hurt before he had Cell contained.

"Alright, move back some." he told them. "We'll wait here for Cell." The kids nodded and moved back from the Grand Kai to wait for Cell.

XXX

Planet Namek, Moray's Village

Moray opened his eyes and sighed. He could not remember a more turbulent or troubled time for the galaxy than these last few decades. First tension with the Changelings and Sai-jins which culminated in the destruction of the very world upon which he currently stood, then threat of killer androids, and now this chaos. He found it hard to believe that there wasn't some thread of connection to at least some of it.

Even if all of this was releated, and was leading to something bigger, there was little he could do about that. The future was in the future and only those in the future could do anything about it. All he could do was help here and now and make sure that there was a future to continue to worry about. So he turned his gaze toward the gathered Dragonballs and cleared his throat.

"Arise, Porunga, and grant my wishes!" he called.

As the balls began to glow and the sky to darken the other Nameks in the village stopped what they were doing and turned to watch. Moray had informed them all both of Azura's fears of a pending disaster and then of what was occuring through out the galaxy. They were, fortunately, untouched by the current troubles. No Zombies rising from the dead or Demons invading from Otherworld. But they knew that this threat was bigger than anything they'd ever witnessed just by how worried Azura was. They'd never seen her concerned, even when she was warning them that Freeza would be coming to their world.

When Azura had contacted Moray earlier to ask him to gather the Dragonballs they knew things were dire indeed. And now that he was being summoned things could have only gotten worse and they were all interested to know what was occuring. If the greatest fighters of the Sennari couldn't stop this then they were all doomed.

Lightning flashed as energy surged up from the Dragonballs and began snaking through the sky, looping around itself. A moment later the looming form of Porunga hovered over the village and the Nameks all swallowed as they gazed up at him. Even for them the sight of the Dragon was an imposing one. Even those who knew nothing about the origins of the Dragons recognized the power they posessed.

"Why have you summoned me to this plane?" Porunga's voice boomed. "Tell me your wishes and they shall be granted."

"Porunga, revive all of those killed today by Cell!" Moray called.

The Dragon growled and its eyes began to glow for a moment. "There is one that cannot be revived." Porunga rumbled. "For he has been revived by me before."

Moray nodded. "Understood."

"Then your wish shall be granted." Porunga's eyes began to glow again, brighter and brighter. It lasted for several seconds this time and then faded again. "Your first wish has been granted to the fullest of my power. You have two wishes remaining, what is your next wish?"

/That is a very good question./ Moray thought. Closing his eyes he mentally contacted Namek's guardian. -Azura, do you hear me? Your wish is granted, what next?-

-Thank-you Moray.- Azura replied. -I don't think there is anything more Porunga can do at this time. Dende is already having the Earth's Dragonballs gathered. If a future wish is needed Shenron can grant it.-

-Alright, I'll release Porunga.- he said. He opened his eyes again and gazed up at Porunga once more. "I have no further wishes." he said. "You may go."

"Very well." Porunga replied, and with that Porunga began to flash, brighter and brighter, until exploding into a shower of sparks. The Dragonballs lifted into the sky and then scattered as the clouds vanished and light returned to the village.

XXX

Makai, Mazoku Plane

The Mazoku Plane of Makai seldom saw actual visitors. It played home to the four Supreme Mazoku and the Mazoku King. Occasionally the Grand Mazoku would come by, if there was some matter that needed discussing. Even more rarely some of the champion fighters from the Grand Mazoku's world in Limbo would come to the Mazoku Plane to hold a tournament and display to the five inhabitants of the plane the power of their Realm.

But these days that was not the case. The Mazoku King was not present in the Mazoku plane, a great rarity in and of itself. It was made even more rare by the fact that none of the Supreme Mazoku were present either. Under normal conditions this would mean the plane was empty. Without its five inhabitants, the five who were supposed to live there, there would be no one. But that wasn't the way of things anymore.

Now the plane was seeing untold amounts of activity. There were more people present in the Mazoku Plane currently than had been there in the last thousand years all together. Thousands of Demons swarmed around in the fields going about various tasks for their new leader, the self-proclaimed new Mazoku King, Quietus. Quietus himself had taken up residence in the Mazoku palace, the home of the four Supreme Mazoku and the Mazoku King.

The Mazoku palace was a towering black structure, more spire than palace. Unlike a normal palace that had wings and parapets and was wider than tall the Mazoku palce was shaped like a tall cone. It stood five times taller than its base was wide and it was made of solid, glistening, metal that looked like obsidian but was ten thousand times stronger than steel. There were only five ways into the palace. Four entrances at the base, one facing in each cardinal direction, and a northwest facing blacony door at the top floor. The fifth entrance lead directly into the bedroom of the Mazoku King.

A single figure about six foot tall stood on that balcony, back to that fifth entrance, looking out over the activity all around him. The self-proclaimed ruller of Makai had on a black cloak that hid his body from view, from the shoulders down to his ankles, and had green trim around its collar. The short and spikey hair on his head and above his eyes was dark blue, his skin a dull gray color, and his eyes red. All that could be seen below the cloak were his feet which bore only two large toes.

From his vantage point atop the palace he could see all activity within the entirety of Makai, if he chose. But he was still getting the hang of that. During his first bid for control of the twin Realms he had spent little time actually running Makai, little time getting used to doing the things that needed to be done. Instead he'd fought the Kais himself for conquest of Shinkai and suffered for it.

This time he was being more tactical with his approach. Before he'd only let those who had allied with him deal with issues in Makai. He had felt it best to deal with the Kais personally, so that no mistakes would be made, without realizing that that itself was a mistake. He had not realized how far they would be willing to go to stop him. His other mistake had been in underestimating Dabura.

But this time he was prepared. He had assembled an army of unparalelled power. True, Dabura had escaped his grasp once more, but that had been no fault of his. It had ocurred prior to his restoration when the other three Supreme Mazoku had tried to bring Nefaria in on the plan of his return. It turned out that the Supreme Mazoku of the Mazoku plane was entirely loyal to Dabura. She had informed him of the scheme and the two had attempted to thwart it.

They had failed, obviously, and expectedly. His Shinkai allies had been clever in their work and had kept the Blood Crystal hidden allowing the needed energies to be syphoned off from the other planes of Shinkai without interference. And they had brought him interesting news of Shinkai. Of warriors of a level at least near that of the Grand Kai. News he would have dismissed as the ramblings of those who'd been killed by them, if not for the powers of the messengers.

It appeared much had changed in the two thousand or so years that he had been sealed, but he had changed as well. Time had not been suspended for him during his imprisonment. He had existed, in some form, some state, the entire time. Concious the entire time. And so he had honed his own abilities, where possible, to greater heights than before. And he had set-up his plan for revenge.

These pathetic fools. Demons, Mazoku, Kai, they were all the same. They all believed he strove for something as petty, as trivial, as control of the twin Realms. Originally, that had been his ultimate goal. He had been content with the idea of being the supreme lord of both Realms. But no longer was that good enough. No, now he sought not to become the ruller of the Realms, but to become the Realms themselves.

/But before I can do that I must destroy the balance. Even with the power I have gained I do not have the strength to near it without being destroyed, not while the balance exists. And so all the Kais must die. And then, then all of the Mazoku shall follow them. And from their sacrifice I shall be reborn as a true god, and the master of all things./ he thought, smirking.

As these thoughts floated through his mind he felt something nipping at the edge of his conciousness. It took a moment for it to break through into his thoughts, it wasn't a very strong feeling so he nearly missed it. At first he thought maybe one of his men were trying to reach him. He didn't have any sort of telepathic link with them but they could send a sensation to him to get his attention.

But no. This wasn't the same as one of those. The sensation wasn't right for it. It wasn't a power twinging at the edge of his focus, either, it was too far away for that. Knowing what it wasn't got him interested in knowing what it was, so he closed his eyes and focused on it. The more he focused the more the sensation pulled at him and the more familiar it became. And then he saw a flash of green and a pair of red eyes.

The image faded away as quickly as it came to him and yet it remained burned into his mind. A towering green creature with glowing red eyes which exuded power beyond measure. Power that he knew intimitely. "Kokoro..." he whispered softly, reverently. He focused harder on the sensation he was feeling, trying to pin down its source, but he couldn't find its origins.

Which could mean only one thing, it was coming from Shinkai. The only reason he could even sense it at all was because of his connection to it. Whatever that massive green figure with red eyes was, he and it were brothers, at least of a sort. And as it had bloomed into being he had felt that 'birth'. And he also felt the ripples of its powers changing the realm of Shinkai before it vanished and the sensation left with it.

/Someone in Shinkai has a link with Kokoro?/ he wondered. /No one in Makai even knows of Kokoro, I only learned by accident... maybe that's how they learned. I find it interesting that they can invoke Kokoro's power to such extent. Those ripples I felt were no small action. Whatever just happened in Shinkai it was something beyond even what the Kais could have done. This is something I must investigate.../

But not personally. As much as this mystery intrigued him he knew it was unwise to enter Shinkai until he knew that the Kais were all dead. Once they were gone another Blood Crystal could not be created to contain him. Then it would be safe to enter Shinkai himself because without the Blood Crystal there was no hope for Shinkai to stop him. He turned and strode back into his room at the top of the palace.

"Daikirai." he said as he entered the room, his voice soft and smooth. "I have an assignment for you."

Suddenly there was a shimmering in the middle of the room and then one of the Supreme Mazoku appeared. "What do you need of me?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Travel to Shinkai." Quietus said. "Something important has just occured there, though I do not know what. Search out any information of something abnormal happening in the Realm. Most likely in the Mortal Plane of Shinkai. It is tied to a large green creature with red eyes, that is all I know for certain."

Daikirai nodded. He was the Supreme Mazoku of Purgatory, the closest plane to the Dead Zone and the access path to Shinkai, and the only one not busy at the moment. Aku was hunting for Dabura in Shinkai. Neikan was in wait in the Dead Zone, near the path between Realms, awaiting word that the Supreme Kai had surfaced. He was the one in charge of fighting and killing her. And Nefaria had sided with the weakling Dabura.

As Daikirai teleported back to his own plane he snorted at that. Nefaria was young, yet. Only a Supreme Mazoku for five hundred years. She had a lot to learn about how things worked. Power was a Mazoku's only alliegence. The strong were the only ones who deserved loyalty. Dabura was weak.

The Lord of Kais had fallen long ago, along with two of the Supreme Kais, and he had refused to invade Shinkai and sieze that chance. Then he and the last two Supreme Kais had worked together to defeat Quietus and, afterwards, Dabura had not taken his chance to kill the last Supreme Kai then and there and sieze the Realm. Instead he had returned and continued to insist that Shinkai was to be left alone.

Pah! Weakness! Daikirai had no qualms about serving Quietus. He had power. Not just the power to defeat even Dabura, but the power to take this golden opportunity to sieze Shinkai. The power to not cower at the mere mention of the word Kai. To fight them and claim both Realms so that the Mazoku could rule over everything, as was their right. He smirked as he flew through the long winding tunnel down to the Dead Zone.

A glorious new age was dawning and he couldn't wait to see it.

XXX

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Hotaru's eyes snapped open and she gasped, sucking air deep into her lungs, as she blinked away the bright light glaring in her eyes. /What just happened?/ she wondered, slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position. She remembered being cornered by Cell, she remembered the pressure on her head...

Then there had been a sharp pain, a bright flash of light, and then... She couldn't remember after that. She felt fine, now, though. No pain anywhere and she no longer felt exhausted like she had earlier. And then she heard a gasp behind her and turned to find Nova rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself up onto her hands and knees.

Beyond the Changeling she saw the fingers on Mijima's right hand twitch. And then a blue light to the left inside of which Raditz took shape, and another to the right where Piccolo began to appear.

"What happened?" Nova asked, staring at her hands. "I... I remember... I remember seeing my body falling. I... don't think my head was attatched anymore... but..." she reached up and felt her neck.

"We must have been revived." Hotaru said, climbing to her feet.

"Does that mean we won?" asked Gainin as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I don't think so." said Piccolo, turning to look into the distance. "I still feel Cell out there. He's flying toward the palace."

"Dende must have realized things were bad here and had us revived." Hotaru reasoned. "Or someone did, anyway." She shook her head. "I don't get how he's still alive. And he's still stronger than I am. Still, it shouldn't be quite so hard to kill him this ti..." she stopped as a power suddenly appeared behind her. Turning her eyes widened. "Sango! Yamcha!"

"Yo!" Yamcha said, grinning and giving a wave. "We, or rather Sango with her Terepo, have already got everyone else back at the palace. From what Tangerie said, Sango's quick on her feet. She was teleporting Bulma and everyone back to the palace before they were even fully aware they were alive again."

Sango shrugged. "So, who wants a lift to Cell?" she asked. "I'm looking forward to seeing him get his ass kicked."

"Payback's a bitch." Gainin said, smirking. "I'll tag along, but just to watch this time, unless Hotaru gets into trouble." The others all agreed so they gathered around Sango.

"Ummm..." Mijima began as she joined the group. "Was... was everyone..."

Yamcha shook his head. "No." he said softly, knowing she was asking if Krillin had been revived as well.

She sighed as she laid a hand on her brother's shoulder. And then the world vanished around them. An instant later they were standing on a tall building near the edge of the city.

"Mom!"

Hotaru turned at the voice, one that sounded distinctly like her older daughter, and saw Sakura standing with Akemi, Cheri, Goten, and Trunks on a building across the street. "What... what are you doing here?" she asked.

"We brought help!" Goten said, happily.

Sakura, however, didn't waste time on words and simply, happily, charged across the street and tackled her mother. "I couldn't sense you anymore! I thought you were dead!"

"What is this!" Cell cried as he pulled to a stop not more than fifty feet away. He'd felt the sudden power spike of Sango teleporting in with everyone but hadn't belived his senses until he saw them with his own eyes. 


	51. Closing on Victory

A/N: I have no idea when the next update may be, but it'll likely be a while. I'm going to be out of internet soon, and no idea when I'll get it back.

Chapter Fifty-one - Closing on Victory

"Get ready." Mikomi said softly.

Goku merely nodded, his eyes still closed. He'd felt it too, a small twinge of power from all around them. They had already waited almost ten minutes now for Janemba to return and it felt like he was about to. But for the moment his focus was elsewhere, on his current task of establishing a Perception field thoughout the area. He'd had an idea a few moments ago, while discussing Janemba's possible link to the distorted area and that being why he could teleport.

The Yardart technique, Perception, relied on a low power field of energy directly linked to the user to sense movement. Goku had a theory that the field would work in a similar fashion to Janemba's link to the distortions. It would provide him a connection, a link, between his current location and his destination. With that in place he'd be able to Relocate. Well, that was his thought, anyway. He had no idea if it would work just yet.

Meanwhile Bardock had just finished reforming his arm and was flexing the fingers and making sure everything was where it should be. Arms and hands had a lot of muscles and bones and complex connections between them so it was easy to mess up creating one. Fortunately, it didn't feel like he had messed up anywhere. "Well, I'm ready." he said, floating over to join the others.

"Just in time, it would seem." said Mikomi as red and black light began swirling around a few dozen feet away from them. The light began gathering together into a growing ball of enegy, its power growing right along with it. And then there was a bright flash of red. When it faded Janemba was back and scowling at them.

"Everyone ready, then?" Goku asked, opening his eyes.

"Ready." Bardock and Mikomi replied. Goku gave a small nod and then surged forward in a burst of gold. A second flash of gold marked Bardock taking off in an outward arc to the right while a blue flash showed Mikomi going to the left. Janemba's gaze shifted between the three of them as his scowl grew.

His focus shifted back to Goku as he flashed gold again, his aura flaring up as he added on more speed and pulled ahead of the other two. He was only a dozen yards away when he suddenly vanished and Janemba's eyes widened in shock. The Sai-jin appeared again an instant later right in front of the creature, grinning, and slammed a knee into his face.

/It works!/ he thought happily. /I can Relocate again! It's slower than normal but I can deal with that. Alright Janemba, let's see how you deal with someone who can teleport too./ He vanished again, appearing just beyond Janemba's position as he flew backwards, and grabbed his tail as he went passed. With a cry and quick spin he pitched him off in the desired direction.

Mikomi was already in position as she came surging up from below and slammed both fists into Janemba's back with a loud crack. There was a second crack and a flash of blue as she fired a pair of point blank blasts into the creature knocking him toward the sky. Bardock was there waiting and surged down slamming an elbow into Janema's stomach.

His mouth snapped open as he surged down past Goku and Mikomi and then slammed into the ground throwing debris up into the air to meet them. Bardock and the Supreme Kai surged down after him and smashed their feet into the ground as he dodged their attack but Goku appeared behind him and thrust an elbow into the back of his head causing him to stumble forward. Bardock took the opening to smash an open palm into his face while Mikomi pounded her heel into his chest.

The dual blows sent him sailing backwards as Goku slipped around him. Then all three surged after him, side by side. They reached him just as he was recovering. Goku hit high, jamming his knee into Janemba's head. Mikomi hit in the middle, two open palms filled with energy smashing into his chest. Bardock hit low, a headbutt right to his stomach.

The triple assault sent Janemba flying backward even faster than before and sent him surging through another rock spire. As the tower of rock began to collapse there was a flash of gold light suring toward it before plowing clear through. A streak of blue shot up and to the right arcing out around the debris. The other gold light simply vanished.

Janemba recovered from his backward motion by smacking into something that brought him to a dead stop. As he righted himself again he glanced behind him to see what he'd hit and his eyes widened as he saw Goku's back. He spun around to kick him in the side but the Sai-jin vanished. An instant later Bardock reached him and smashed a foot into his back.

Goku appeared again beside his father, hands cupped at his side, blue energy flaring to life. "Kaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeee." he cried as he watched Janemba's progress toward the outer edge. They were getting him close now, just a little further... Mikomi surged down from above and thrust her leg into the side of Janemba's head before spinning around and then smacking her heel into his face. "Haaaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

The Supreme Kai bolted away quickly as the Sai-jin thrust his arms forward. "HAAAAAAAAA!" The blue energy flared up in his hands and then exploded forward tearing up the ground beneath them as it rocketed toward Janemba. The creature opened its eyes as it continued to fly backwards and glared at the approaching energy wave.

With a sudden shrill cry and flash of red he came to a stop and thrust his arms forward. The Kamehameha slammed into his hands a second later and began to push him backwards for a moment. And then they stalled as red energy built in Janemba's hands as he charged a counter. But then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he turned his gaze slightly for a better view.

Suddenly he smirked and then dodged around the Kamehameha letting it surge off harmlessly into the distance. Meanwhile he directed the energy he'd gathered toward the Supreme Kai, who he'd seen coming back into attack him again while he'd been busy deflecting the Kamehameha. There was a bright flash of red as the red and black stream erupted from his hands and surged toward her.

Bardock came charging up from below and kicked the end of the attack knocking it up away from its target. At the same time Goku appeared beside Janemba and thrust an elbow back at his face. This time Janemba was able to dodge and then countered with a tail swipe. Goku slipped around it and threw a punch that was dodged and then followed that up with a kick that smacked into the side of the creature's head.

This time he wasn't knocked flying, however, and the close range exchange continued as the two drifted through the air toward the ever nearing edge of the distorted area. "So far... so good..." Bardock said, panting lightly. Trying to guide their opponent to a certain location, and keeping up a high pace so that he wouldn't notice, was already taking its toll on him and Goku. The Supreme Kai was showing less strain from it and the Sai-jin figured it was more due to her being a Kai than her power.

Just a few hours ago, when he and Goku had both been dead, this wouldn't have been nearly as taxing. He'd forgotten how much less strain a living body could take compared to a dead one. And neither he or Goku had ever fought seriously at full power while dead so it was an entirely new experience fighting at this level and intensity, which certainly didn't help matters. Still, progress was being made so he wasn't about to complain.

With a smirk and a burst of gold he charged back in to the battle. He managed to catch Janemba by surprise and slam his knee into the side of his head before spinning around and snapping a kick into his back. Janembea stopped himself after only a few feet and met the charging Sai-jins head on and resumed their close range battle, now two on one.

The two on one exchange soon became three as Mikomi surged in and joined the battle again as well. With the three of them swinging arms and legs at him and moving around him Janemba was hard pressed to keep on the offensive. Something that was quickly irritating him. He left out a cry and a burst of energy a moment later knocking his attackers away from him and then surged in at the closest one, Goku.

But Goku saw him coming and grabbed his arm, spun around rapidly, and then pitched him away and down at the ground. Bardock and Mikomi each fired off blasts of energy after him that he didn't see, as he pulled his descent to a stop, and exploded upon impact. Goku was already surging down and blasted through the dust of the explosion before smashing a fist into Janemba's face and driving him back further.

The Sai-jin glanced down at the ground and smiled, he could see the border of the distorted area down there. Just a little further and they'd have succeeded in their objective. With a cry he shot in after him and, reaching him, unleashed a powerful flurry of punches and kicks to his head, chest, and abdomen that drove him further and further back. And then, with a spinning kick into his chest, he knocked the creature beyond the border of the distorted area and into the normal ground of the H.F.I.L. beyond.

"He's out!" Mikomi cheered as she and Bardock joined Goku.

"Now to take him down." Bardock agreed with a smirk. "Stand back, I'll handle this!" His aura flared up hugely and then he surged in at Janemba who was just climbing back out of the hole he'd made upon impact. As he charged toward him he pulled back his right arm, bent his fingers so that they arced toward Janemba, and began to gather energy in his cupped hand.

Janemba saw him coming and scowled, but then his eyes widened slightly as he looked at the area around him, realizing he wasn't inside the distorted portion anymore. That flicker of concern, of fear, was enough to tell Bardock they'd been on the right track knocking him out of that area and he smirked as he poured on more speed. An instant later, before Janemba had gotten his wits back again, he was on him and his arm thrust foward slamming the gathered energy into his chest.

The resultant explosion flung the creature backwards and Bardock added on more speed to catch and pass him. Coming up from behind he kicked him in the back and up into the sky then surged up, spun around in front of him again, and snapped a kick into his stomach and knocking him further from the distorted area. He floated there for a second before bringing up his right hand and clenching it into a fist, blue energy gathering around it again.

"Alright. Time to end this!" he cried as he shot in at Janemba again. The creature was just coming to a stop when he reached it and slamed his energy encased fist into his chest. The gathered energy didn't discharge, however, and Bardock simply spun and slammed his heel into the side of his head, then an elbow uppercut into his jaw, a knee to the stomach to double him over, and then a downward punch with his left fist which sent Janemba into the ground.

In a burst of gold the Sai-jin surged down after him. Janemba impacted with a thunderous crash and then Bardock reached him an instant later, energy encased fist out stretched and impacting his chest before detonating. The energy errupted into a massive collum of swirling blue energy like a glowing twister of light kicking up dust and tearing up the ground all around it.

"Amazing..." Mikomi breathed softly, as the energy collum began to fade. She'd felt it during Bardock's assault. The entire time he'd been attacking Janemba he'd been gathering more and more energy into his hand. With the close range of the attack she knew there had been more than enough power to take out Janemba. At least, until he reformed again.

"Alright, let's finish up." Bardock said as the energy collum vanished completely and he flew back to the others.

"Right." Goku said with a nod. The two of them lifted up higher and then raised their arms above their heads again, reverting to base along the way. A few seconds later the energy they had already gathered and moved to float above them and more energy began to flow into the attack.

XXX

Unkown Location

"What are the levels?" Raven demanded.

"Still holding at 44%, ma'am." the short, pudgy, blue scaled alien at the console replied. "There's been no change."

"Relax." came the voice of her mate from his seat behind her. "It will come when it comes."

"I just don't like this. What if it doesn't go higher? If this doesn't work we'll have no options left."

"I don't think this is the battle we've been waiting for." he replied. "There's not enough power involved. Their opponent doesn't match with the power we have on record for Quietus."

"He's right." said Razor, who was standing beside him. "I understand your impatience and concern but this is not that battle. I am unsure who they are up against but it is not Quietus."

Raven pursed her lips and turned back to the consoles and montiors again. "Can we get some sort of video feed from Otherworld? We had it before."

"Those probes have long since stopped functioning." replied the blue alien. "I could have new ones sent through and to the location of the battle within the hour but it will likely be over by then."

"Do it. I want video of what's going on over there." she ordered. "I don't like that Goku is going after Quietus, instead of him coming here." The alien nodded and then set to work doing as ordered.

"It is a bit troubling." Razor agreed.

"Can they still weaken the field here, if they're in Makai?" asked Ravenna from the doorway.

Razor glanced back at her and nodded his head. "They can, though it'll take more energy to do so." he replied. "I'd estimate an extra 30% would be needed to break the field from Makai."

"Harder, but still do able." said Raven's mate. "I'd possibly be required to defeat Quietus at any rate. Not that it really matters."

"No, I suppose that part can go either way without issue." said Razor. "If Quietus kills them off after they've managed to release us then we'll only have him to deal with. If not then we'll have to fight them ourselves. But either way we'll have no real resistance."

"Well, Vegeta's visions do see them fighting us." said Raven.

"The future is not set." said Razor. "Not when Makai gets involved."

"What do you mean?" Ravenna asked.

"Makai is not part of Shinkai." he explained. "Though they are twin sides of reality as a whole their fates are not interlinked. Events of one Realm are not meant to influence the other. And so the future of Makai cannot be seen by those of Shinkai which means..."

"That people in Shinkai can't see what those of Makai will do." said Ravenna slowly.

"Not accurately, at least." Razor said. "I think the child saw this coming largely because it was being orchastrated mainly in this Realm. We can't be absolutely certain that the future they saw will be the way things go."

Ravenna reached up and rubbed her temples. "I hate dealing with time travel, visions or otherwise." she muttered.

"Energy level increasing!" one of the techs called again. "44.1% and climbing!"

XXX

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Cell's eyes roamed over the gathering before him. Everyone he'd just come from killing plus Yamcha and that one silver haired woman who'd popped up at the Cell Games was there, as were a bunch of kids, one of whom was unmistakably Trunks. And there was some old guy he didn't know. "Don't you people know when to stay dead?" he growled.

"The same could be said about you." Hotaru responded, setting Sakura back down on to the roof. "You want to try your luck again?"

"That wont be necassary."

Hotaru turned her attention from Cell to the man standing with the kids across the street. He was floating up into the air and moving toward Cell. /Who is he? Wait, Goten said they brought help... so where did the kids find him?/ Before she could voice any of her questions, however, Cell did it for her.

"And just who are you?" the Biodroid demanded.

"I would be the Grand Kai." Zenryou replied. "And it is time you go back to where you belong." He suddenly smacked his hands together in front of him as though he was praying. A spark of blue-white light snapped around his body and then his aura flared to life quickly growing in size and brightness. Hotaru's eyes widened as his power suddenly climbed up from unsensable to greater than her maximum in just a few seconds. Cell's eyes widened as well, in his current state the man before him was stronger than him.

The blue-white aura around the Grand Kai suddenly flashed to white, then to solid blue, and then vanished. The Kai's hands, however, continued to glow bright white. As he pulled them apart and pointed them toward Cell the Biodroid drifted backward cautiously. The white glow grew so bright Zenryou's hands couldn't be seen and then it shot out toward Cell and engulfed him.

As the light died from the Grand Kai's hands a ball of white formed around Cell. The Biodroid growled and let out a burst of ki and the ball suddenly shattered causing the Grand Kai to frown. "Well, I was worried about that." he said.

"What, what is it?" asked Cheri.

"Because of the doors being closed my powers here are far more limited than normal." he said. "My link with Otherworld is inhibited so it reduces my influence here. At his current level Cell is too powerful for me to fully contain."

"Well then, we'll just have to beat him down some more." Hotaru said, floating up into the air to join the Grand Kai. During her transit she began to glow orange and then vanished. When she reappeared she was floating beside Zenryou and in her third form. She still wasn't as strong as Cell but the gap was smaller now, and with the Grand Kai helping she didn't think it would be an issue.

Zenryou smiled and gave her nod. "It's been some time since I've fought alongside a Tanarian nearly as strong as I." he said.

Hotaru gave him a look and raised eyebrow but then turned her focus back to Cell. And then in a burst of silver she shot in at him. The Biodroid started to dodge to the left but suddenly jerked to the right as the Grand Kai appeared behind him and then slammed his leg into the left side of his head. Before he had time to recover from the hit Hotaru reached him and slammed her knee into his stomach doubling him over. She then slammed her elbow into the back of his neck driving him down into the street below.

Zenryou thrust his arms down and fired a blast of blue energy at the same time Cell hit the road below. The attack impacted a moment later and then exploded savagely, blasting out a large crater and bringing three nearby buildings crashing down. There was a cry and flash of gold as Cell surged up out of the dust cloud.

He reached his two opponents an instant later and slammed a fist into Hotaru's stomach doubling her over but before he could follow up Zenryou's foot smashed into the side of his head. The blow knocked him off balance for a moment but he recovered quickly and then spun and kicked both of his opponents in the chest at the same time. And then, in a flash of gold, he charged after Hotaru again.

Reaching her an instant later he slammed his elbow down into her stomach before jamming his knee up into the small of her back and then thrusting his fist down into her face and sending her down into the road below. He then quickly dodged to the left slipping around the energy blast from the Grand Kai before turning and firing his own blast at him.

By the time Zenryou deflected it Cell was right in front of him launcing a punch for his head. The Kai blocked the punch but didn't even notice the incoming knee until it slammed into his stomach. The blow knocked him back and knocked the wind out of him but he still managed to slip around the Biodroid's next punch.

And then Hotaru was below them and had hold of Cell's ankles. With a cry she yanked him down and then began to spin rapidly before tossing him toward and through a near-by row of buildings, all of which collapsed as he crashed into the next road over. "This isn't going to get us anywhere." she said as she worked a kink out of her shoulder. "It'll take too long to wear him down, one of us needs to deliver a killing blow."

"That's not possible." Zenryou said.

"What do you mean?" asked Hotaru.

"Due to current problems in Otherworld, the same issues that are inhibiting my powers here, Cell cannot die." he said. "Which is the entire reason I am here. The only way to stop him is to contain him. Once back in Otherworld I can maintain the containment forever if needed, but once this mess is fixed he can be dealt with more permanently."

Hotaru cursed under her breath. "You mean we never had a chance from the start?"

"On your own, no, I'm afraid you didn't." he replied. "And with the current turmoil in Otherworld I wouldn't have noticed the problem for days, at least, had the children not come looking for Goku and the others."

Hotaru glanced back at where the kids all stood with the others and then turned her eyes back toward where she could feel Cell floating back up out of the crater he'd formed on impact. /When this is all over I'm taking Sakura and Akemi out for all the pizza and ice cream they can eat./

XXX

Otherworld, Red Snakeway

Gohan and Videl were flying so fast through the tunnel that they were barely able to react in time to new turns that sprang up after the previous one, and Gohan was already starting to feel tired. They'd sensed Vegeta's power jump up a few moments after their trip had started and realized he'd transformed to the second level. So they'd done the same, not wanting to be left too far behind, though he was still at least five minutes ahead of them and slowly getting further away.

"I don't think I can keep up this pace much longer." Gohan said with a shake of his head. "Man, I thought I was keeping in shape pretty well but this is something else."

Videl laughed. "It's because you mostly do shadow boxing style training." she said. "I don't know what Vegeta does but I usually do full speed laps around the Earth for an hour every morning."

Gohan laughed and shook his head again. "And here I thought I was doing pretty good."

"Oh, hey, he's stopped."

Gohan focused on Vegeta's power once more and sure enough it wasn't moving anymore. "Think he's finally found the end?"

"Kami I hope so." replied Videl. "We've been flying for at least a half hour now, it's getting boring."

The two flew on in silence for the last few minutes until they reached Vegeta and came to a stop. Sure enough they were at the end of the path now and looking out over a very barren and wasted looking landscape. Black and red clouds filed the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Well, this is cheery." Videl said with a look around. "So, how do you suppose we locate this Dabura guy, anyway?"

"I can't sense anyone but us." Gohan said, frowning. "Maybe he left?"

"I'm not giving up that easy." Vegeta said. "We'll split up and search."

"We don't even know what he looks like." Videl reminded him.

"As shocked as those Demons were at our powers I'm sure he'll come to us so long as we keep our powers raised." Vegeta replied. "Let's go." And with that he took off. Gohan and Videl glanced at each other, shrugged, and then shot off in seperate directions as well. 


	52. Beyond Their Limits

A/N: This WILL be the last update for an unknown amount of time as I will shortly be losing access to the net indefinitely. To help tide you over, and since I'll have plenty of free time to work on this some more between now and my triumphant return to the net, I give you... THREE CHAPTERS! Yay! Aren't you so happy now? :)

Chapter Fifty-two - Beyond Their Limits

Cell frowned as he glared at his two opponents. The arrival of the Grand Kai had been a wholly unforseen problem. The attackers in Otherworld were to have dealt with him already. His presence could mean only one thing, the Otheworld attack had failed as miserably as the attack on the Mortal Plane had gone.

Though he realized now that he should have expected this. Goku and Bardock had gained a lot more power than he had expected them to and they had mentioned the Demon attack. Obviously the assault there had failed before they'd even shown up to cause him trouble. That he was dealing with the Grand Kai now, and not Goku and Bardock again, could only mean that they had already departed Otherworld. Perhaps were already in Makai, for that matter.

That was fine. The Mazoku could deal with them easily enough. He just needed to concentrate on his mission here. As much he wanted to kill Hotaru first he knew it would be better to focus on the Kai for now. He was the real threat. Once he was gone he could single handedly finish the attack on Planet Vegeta. The Demons may have failed but he had no intention of doing likewise.

"Alright, if that's how you want to play then it's time for me to truly get serious." Cell said as he cracked his knuckles, grinning.

Hotaru narrowed her eyes as she slipped back into her fighting stance. She wasn't sure she much liked the implication of Cell's statement. She did know, however, that she didn't want to know if he'd been fighting seriously so far or not. In a burst of silver she surged off toward him again, cocking back her right fist as she flew. Reaching him she launched a punch for his head but it hit nothing but air, passing right through his head.

"Damn, after image!" she cried, spinning around quickly, expecting to find him right behind her. But he wasn't there. He was launching a punch at the Grand Kai instead. Hotaru shot back toward them as Zenryou blocked the punch and countered with a kick that Cell dodged. The biodroid then smashed his knee into the Kai's chest.

He then slipped quickly to the left and Hotaru's kick missed him and hit the Kai in the head instead. And then the biodroid's fist pounded into the back of her head with a loud crack. And then his foot shot out and slammed into her lower back. Flipping up above them he then kicked down into both of their heads and drove them down toward the ground.

He then moved so that he was floating facing the ground as pulled his arms back. Blue and green energy swirled around and gathered between his hands as he smirked. The gathering energy coalesced into two balls of ki and those watching could feel the energy of the attacks climbing at an extremely fast rate as Hotaru and the Grand Kai slammed into the ground. Cell then began thrusting his arms up and down, firing off blast after blast of energy, raining blue green destruction upon the street below.

"Mom!" Sakura cried, leaning over the edge of the building she was on and staring wide-eyed as the attacks impacted and exploded. Each blast sounded like thunder and shook the entire planet as the shockwaves cracked the foundations of all the buildings for six blocks. And then he raised his arms above his head, charged one more larger and stronger blast, and then fired it. It impacted, swelled, and exploded savagely bringing all the buildings in a six block radius crashing down.

Goten left out a startled cry as he started to fall and quickly reached out and grabbed hold of Cheri's foot. "Ow, Goten!" she cried, shaking her leg. "You almost pulled my leg off!"

"Sorry!" he said, letting go of her leg and floating back up to the others as the dust began to settle below them. "I just reacted."

"Sakura, is mom ok?" Akemi asked, looking up at her sister.

"Don't worry." Yamcha said, resting a hand on his youngest daughter's head. "She's fine."

Akemi looked back at her father and saw him gazing up into the sky. She was about to turn and find what he was looking at but heard a loud crack that drew her focus back toward Cell. And that's when she saw her mother, leg out stretched and planted in Cell's back as she drove him down into the crater formed by his recent attack.

They plunged down through the mountain of dust Cell's energy assualt had created and then impacted with a crash that blew the dust apart. Hotaru drove the Biodroid down five feet into the rock before launching back up into the air and pitching a pair orange energy blasts down ontop of him which exploded throwing more dust up into the air.

He came charging back up a second later and shot a punch for her head but she suddenly vanished. He went to turn to find her but the Grand Kai's leg slammed into his back driving him forward and then she appeared in front of him and smashed her foot into his face. He recovered from the blow quickly and and grabbed hold of Hotaru's leg before she could pull away and then turned and threw her into the Grand Kai before then charging in and kicking her in the stomach.

As he went to punch her in the face she disappeared again so he quickly pulled back and kicked the Grand Kai in the head before thrusting his arms out to his sides and letting off a burst of ki. He heard a cry from behind him and turned to see Hotaru being blown away by the ki burst and slammed his fist into her stomach doubling her over. He then flew up above her and slammed his heel into her back driving her toward the ground.

With her dealt with again he turned to locate his other opponent and his eyes widened. There were now five Grand Kais floating there. But as he focused his mind on them he realized the Kai's power had been split evenly between all five. Which meant none of them actually had the strength to hurt him now. "That's not going to help you any." Cell said, smirking. "You can't even scratch me like that."

"Perhaps not." Zenryou said as the four outer most duplicates began to drift around toward Cell's sides. "But then again, I don't plan on scratching you." It only took a few seconds for the five of them to surround him and then they held their arms out toward each other. "Star Seal!"

Each of Zenryou's ten hands began to glow blue and then blue energy shot from them. The ten streams of energy zipped around Cell before merging with each other in what looked like, from above and below, a star pattern, with Cell floating in the middle. The Biodroid scowled at the streams of energy which looked more like light that actual ki. He wasn't sure what the Kai was planning to do but he wasn't intending to wait and find out either.

"What is this!" Cell cried, trying to move away but finding it exceedingly difficult to do so.

"One of the few techinques I know that I developed myself." Zenryou replied. He then looked down to where Hotaru was standing and gazing up at them. "I can hold him for a while, I think, but not indefinitely. If you can hit him with something enough to nearly destroy him I should then be able to contain him for good."

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

"We're almost out of time." Goku said as he gazed up at the Spirit Bomb floating way above him and Bardock and still taking shape. He could feel the twinge of Janemba's power returning again. The creature would be back in just a few moments.

"This is going to take a while." Bardock said, frowning. "At this rate we'll need to take him out at least two more times, maybe three, before the Spirit Bomb is ready. I'm really starting to doubt the plan for stopping Quietus..."

"We could charge this faster if we weren't in the middle of nowhere." said Goku. "It's only taking so long because of how far we are from the Oni."

Bardock snorted. "Great, we'll just ask Quietus to fight us in the middle of a city, then." He sighed as he saw red and black energy begin to swirl and gather a few dozen yards away, in the crater he'd formed with his last attack. "Let's close it up, he's back."

"Right." Goku agreed with a nod as he focused on sealing up the Spirit Bomb again. A moment later it was sealed up and they were floating down to join Mikomi again. As they reached her there was a flash of red as Janemba reformed. The two Sai-jins hunched over and let out cries as they focused. They flashed gold once, transforming to the first level, and then a moment later flashed gold again as they hit the second.

They'd just finished transforming when they sensed Janemba on the move. The creature was charging them at full speed and scowling deeply. He was almost on them when he suddenly opened his mouth and let loose a massive blast of red and black energy. "Shit!" Bardock cried, as all three brought their arms up to block knowing they couldn't get around it in time. It hit and surged over them a second later but only lasted a moment before fading.

Goku was just about to lower his arms when Janemba slammed his tail into the back of his head. He shook his head to clear it as he pulled himself to a stop and turned to find out where his opponent was at now. His eyes widened and he quickly teleported appearing a second later beside Janemba where he grabbed his tail, spun, and pitched him toward the ground back the way he'd come from.

"He was trying to get back into the distorted area." Bardock said as he watched Janemba slam into the ground from Goku's toss. "I guess I was right about that."

"Come on, we've got to take him out again, fast." Goku said as he shot down toward him.

"Right!" Bardock agreed, shooting after Goku quickly. Mikomi followed after them a second later. By the time the three of them reached the point of Janemba's impact the creature was back on his feet and scowling at them again. He dodged around Goku's punch and kicked him in the side at the same time knocking him into Bardock. He then slipped to the left around Mikomi's kick, grabbed her leg, and threw her into the two Sai-jins.

Janemba laughed as he pulled back his right arm and charged at the entangled trio. Bardock's eyes widened as he saw a blade of red and black energy form around Janemba's hand and grow out three feet from the tips of his fingers. The Sai-jin gave a push at the other two as he started to dodge to the side. But Janemba was already within range and thrusting his arm forward.

Goku left out a gasp of pain and pulled to the right holding his side which was already wet and warm with blood. But he could tell it wasn't too deep. He was just about to start healing it when he spotted the red and black energy blade that was currently protruding from Mikomi's chest. "Oh man..."

Janemba cackled as he pulled the blade back out and then kicked her in the head and down into the ground. Grinning he turned toward Bardock and charged him pulling back the arm with the energy blade as he went. The Sai-jin quickly thrust his arms forward and shot off a blast of golden energy but the creature easily deflected it with his left arm and then took a swing with the blade.

Bardock barely managed to dodge around it and then tried to move in closer to counter attack but ended up pulling back again as Janemba took another slice at him. "Damn it, I can't get in close enough to hit him now!" he cried, just managing to avoid a being stabbed in the head.

Goku lowered his hand from his side, the gash now sealed, and charged in to help his father. Janemba noticed him coming and quickly spun around, another blade flaring up over his left hand, and took a swipe at the charging Sai-jin. Goku's eyes widened and he quickly pulled to a stop just avoiding having his head removed.

Bardock charged in again while Janemba had his back turned. He pulled back his left arm as he neared and was just about to launch his punch when he froze, his eyes and mouth wide in shock and pain. He looked down slowly and found Janemba's tail about a foot from his stomach, a blade of black and red energy extending from just before the tip and through his abdomen. He drifted back off the blade, holding his stomach, and started focusing on healing the injury.

Janemba cackled again, grinning, as he charged toward Goku. The Sai-jin flew backward quickly dodging around the creature's swings and stabs as fast as he could but unable to get close enough to counter. And then an energy blast slammed into the back of the creature's head and exploded brining him to a stop. The attack obviously had done little actual damage but it had gotten the creature's attention and he turned to see who had attacked him.

Goku looked as well and saw Kibito floating in the sky just near the edge of the distorted area. He then turned his focus back to his father and saw that he was still healing himself. /We need to do something, fast. I can still sense the Supreme Kai but her energy is fading. She wont last much longer.../

Goku then turned his focus up toward the sky to where the unfinished Spirit Bomb currently floated. It was a bit stronger than Janemba but not by enough yet to be certain he'd be destroyed for good. A loud crack brought his focus back down to the battle again and he saw Janemba being knocked back from Kibito by a hard shoulder from Bardock. But he recovered quickly and nearly impaled the Sai-jin with a quick jab of his left arm.

/If we don't do something we're not going to pull this off!/ Goku thought, eyes going back up to the Spirit Bomb. /There's no way the Supreme Kai will last long enough for us to complete the Spirit Bomb plan and then get her help... And Janemba's keeping Bardock too busy to be of any help./ He left out a sigh as his aura faded and his hair fell back down. /Kami, I hope this works./

XXX

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Cell growled as he glared at the three Zenryou's in his field of vision but turned his focus downward as he heard Hotaru calling up to him. "Sorry Cell, but this is where it ends. You should never have come here." she said, reaching eye level with him. "You'd have lived longer."

"This isn't over yet." Cell replied. He left out a cry then and his body rippled and began to split. As it did Zenryou had to strain more and more to hold him. And then there was a crack as the seal shattered and Cell split fully into four. The four biodroid's smirked for a moment and then remerged as they charged toward one of the five Zenryou's and kicked him in the stomach knocking him into a distant building.

He turned then and charged another of the Grand Kai duplicates, kicking him in the head and down into the ground. With him out of the way he moved onto a third slaming a knee into his stomach and then backhanding him down the road a dozen blocks. He was turning toward the fourth when he felt Hotaru nearing him again and he slipped around a kick from her before smashing his heel into the back of her neck.

Her eyes snapped wide and she cried out in pain as the blow slammed her into the ground below. With her once again out of the way Cell charged the next Grand Kai duplicate and smashed a fist into his face, grabbed his leg as the blow knocked him away, and then spun and pitched him into a distant sky scrapper dozens of blocks away. By this point the fifth Kai had disappeared.

Cell wasn't sure where he'd gone but he knew the Kai would be out of his hair for a little while while he relocated his other selves and recombined. That would give him time to deal with the Tanarian. But as he went to find where she'd hit another power grazed his senses and he scowled. Spinning around his arm snapped out and he fired a ki blast at Piccolo causing the Namek's concentration to break and the attack he had been preparing to fade.

Piccolo scowled as the energy he'd gathered in his hands vansihed and he watched the energy blast zip by him. He figured his Twin Gates of Judgment would have done enough damage to weaken Cell some more, perhaps enough for the Kai to do whatever it was he was trying to do, but it didn't look like he was going to have the time to use it.

The Biodroid frowned as he looked down toward where Hotaru was just getting to her feet again. "I grow tired of dealing with all of you. My objective was to kill all resistance on this side, I was never ordered to keep the planet in one piece along the way. I think it is time to put an end to this, once and for all." As he spoke he shifted in the air and cupped his hands at his side, red energy flaring up between them.

"I will destroy this planet and kill you all." Cell called out with a smirk. "Allow me to introduce you to a little something I developed over the last seven years. The Kaiohameha! Kaioooooo..."

Hotaru's eyes widened as she felt how rapidly the attack was growing in power. /Not good! I don't know if I can counter that!/ she thought as she quickly mimicked Cell's position, silver energy flaring up between her own hands. "You can try!" she called up. "But I wont let you! There are too many people on this planet I want to protect! Kaaaameeeee...!"

"Unreal!" Yamcha cried as he put his arms up to shield himself from the raging windstorm the two fighters were churning up with their power. It was all he could do to stay on his feet even after powering up the Kinryoku. Goten and Trunks transformed to stop from being blown away, but were still having to fight to stay put, and Cheri, Sakura, and Akemi were hanging onto them. 17 was holding on to Sango to keep her from being blown away, though he himself was still sliding backward, and even Raditz had transformed and was fighting to keep this footing and hang on to Nova.

"Hameeeeeee..." Cell shouted, pulling his arms back further.

"Ryooookuuu...!" sounded Hotaru.

"This is incredible!" Raditz yelled as the rushing winds began to make even him slide backwards. The power of Cell's attack was climbing at an inconcievable rate. Much faster than Hotaru's. He wasn't sure if her attack would even stall his, let alone stop it. But both of their attacks were already at levels beyond what anyone else present could muster.

And then twin cries sounded, from the sky and the ground, and the two fired their attacks. "HAAAAAAA!"

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

Goku floated up to just below the Spirit Bomb, senses following Janemba and his father closely as they continued to fight. One on one like this Bardock was having considerably more trouble than they'd had up to this point. Janemba had the power advantage. It wasn't a huge power advantage but it was enough of one that, combined with the creature's ferocity and unrelenting string of attacks, it was proving difficult for the Sai-jin to even keep up.

Reaching the Spirit Bomb he raised his right arm up, hand open, palm up, and called the energy down to him. In its current state, the attack's natural form, it wasn't strong enough for Goku to be certain it would destroy Janemba. It was stronger than the creature, stronger even than the Supreme Kai, but he and Bardock had agreed that an attack of at least 50% greater power than Janemba would be the only sure way to destroy him, due to his nature.

However, that only applied to the Spirit Bomb in its current condition. As a Spirit Bomb. Condensed into a more narrow focus, a more compact and denser attack, it could be enough at its current levels to get the job done. The problem was in condensing the energy. Doing it while all the gathered energy was still floating above him, as a Spirit Bomb, would be impossible. There was only one way he could convert this energy into an attack possibly capable of stopping Janemba. He just wasn't sure if it would work, or if he could survive it.

Closing his eyes he left out a breath and then focused. The gathered energy above him flashed once, twice, three times, and then it began to flow down into his hand. He felt the pressure building up within a few seconds, the energy forcing its way into every space it could find and quickly overwhelming his system. But he only needed to go a little further, only needed to draw in a little more...

/Yes!/ he cried mentally, as he felt the energy above him begin to draw in and begin to condense. He'd drawn enough of the power into himself to be able to fully manipulate the entire collection now. The energy over his head began to shirnk quickly, growing brighter and brighter as it did, until at last he had a baseball sized ball of bright blue energy in his hand. He could also feel the strain on his body from holding so much of the attack, all of it made of foreign energy, inside him.

/I've got to make this count./ he thought. /I wont get a second shot, if this doesn't work.../ He sighed and shook his head. If it failed to even distract Janemba then they were done for. If, at least, it took him out temporarily then they might still have a chance. But completely destroying him, destroying him for good, was Goku's intention. The only thing he could do to save Mikomi for certain and allow them to continue on.

In a burst of blue he surged in toward the on going fight wishing, as he did, that he could transform. But he wasn't sure what might happen to the gathered energy if he did. He knew it was impossible to create a Spirit Bomb while in Super Sai-jin, he had no idea if the energy of one could be controlled while transformed and had no desire to find out in the current situation. "Bardock, out of the way!" Goku called as he neared.

Suddenly the two fighters became visible to Goku's eyes as they stopped moving. His father's gaze went from his black hair to the bright blue light around his right hand and then his eyes widened. The Sai-jin dodged quickly out of the way but Janemba just scowled and turned to face him. Suddenly the creature lunged toward him and Goku reacted on instinct, the fist carrying the energy snapping out and slamming into his chest with a deafening crack and a brilliant flash of blue.

XXX

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

The red and silver streams of energy slammed into each other about a hundred feet above the city streets. The impact sent out a thunderous crack and a massive shockwave that caused several more near-by buildings to collapse. Hotaru had no focus to spare for the collateral damage occuring around them, all her attention and concentration was on the warring attacks she and Cell had launched.

Though perhaps warring was the wrong term. His attack was pushing down through hers with very little resistance. Her Kameryokuha's power was still climbing, but so was the power of Cell's Kaiohameha. And its power was going up faster than that of her own attack. Beyond that she was sure that it had already surpassed her maximum limit of power with the Kameryokuha. A few seconds later she knew for a fact it had as the strength of her attack ceased increasing but Cell's kept on going up.

/Damn it! Damn him!/ her mind screamed. /No! I just came back. I just got Yamcha back! Sakura... Akemi... I can't let them die.../ The ground under her feet cracked as her eyes began to glow. -Yamcha, get everyone back at least a hundred yards. NOW!-

Yamcha didn't have to be told twice, he quickly reached out and grabbed Sango's arm and pulled her over so that he could yell into her ear to be heard over the roar of the attacks. Sango nodded and then vanished before appearing a moment later beside the kids. Grabbing them she vanished again. Meanwhile Yamcha motioned to the others with him and took off, all of them following after him quickly.

Once he was sure he was outside the range Hotaru had designated he turned back to the battle. Cell's attack was now only thirty or so feet away from Hotaru's. He wasn't sure what she had planned and he couldn't think of anything that would get them out of this situation. And then he saw, just barely, the muscles in her arms ripple. /She's... going to use that!/ he thought, both shocked and terrified. /But... she hasn't perfected it yet! If she uses it now, like this, she could.../

Cell's attack was almost on her now, she could almost feel it against her hands. There were only a few inches left between them. It was now or never. She closed her eyes and focused, concentrated with all of her might, and drew up every ounce of mental energy she had. She didn't have much time, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to properly contain and direct it with so little time to prepare, but there really wasn't any other choice. She pushed her mental energy out of her body and created, as best she could, a tunnel of energy between her and Cell.

"Now you die!" Cell called down, laughing. Hotaru knew why, his attack was now pressing directly against her hands. The only thing stopping her from being overwhelmed by it was all the energy in her hands, but that wouldn't stop it for long.

"You first!" she called back up. "GENKAI TOPPA!"

It happened in an instant. A blinding flash of silver, an ear splitting crack, a sudden roar of wind, and then the shockwave slammed into them and blew them all back. Back and back and into and through near-by buildings. Dozens of towering buildings around the battle site trembled and then crumbled. The ground cracked, shattered, broke apart into fine dust and blew away like a sudden sand storm.

Nobody could see anything, nobody could hear anything. The roaring was too loud, the blowing dust too thick. They couldn't even sense Hotaru or Cell now, something was pressing against them, against their minds, blocking out all signals. But they could feel waves and waves of pressure, of pure raw power, washing out over them. It was like some sort of bomb had gone off, like a sun had fallen to the planet and exploded.

Yamcha fought to see through the dust, to hear through the roar, to sense through the pressure, to find some sign that Hotaru was still out there. Still alive. The seconds seemed to tick by slowly, taking minutes to pass, but then the pressure began to fade. The roar began to die. The dust began to fall. But he couldn't find her, he still couldn't feel her power.

-Hotaru?- he tried, tentatively. -Hotaru! Come on, answer me!-

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

Goku felt his hand hit Janemba and then he felt something weird. His hand passed THROUGH Janemba. It went right into him like he was made of mud. And then the energy in his fist exploded and he was blasted backwards at incredible speed. Before he'd even realized he was moving he'd slammed through five of the rock spires. In a flash of gold he transformed to the second level and used all of his power to bring himself to a stop.

In the distance he could see a bright, swirling, roaring ball of blue energy swelling larger and larger. And then red light seeped into the center of it and began washing out to the edges. The blue fading to purple and then to red until, at last, the whole thing had gone red. Goku had no idea what was happening now, none of this made any sense to him. He'd expected the energy hit and explode and that to be it.

And then the ball of energy flashed and pulsed and doubled in size. Then flashed, pulsed, and doubled in size again. And then white light been to seep out from the center. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until the entire thing had turned white. That's when he felt the sudden pulling. A suction, coming from the energy ball before him, as it began to shrink down smaller and smaller. It took everything he had not to be pulled in and he saw that Bardock was holding Kibito and Mikomi back from being sucked in as well.

And then, when the ball of energy had reached the size of a marble it suddenly errupted. A thundering explosion that shook the ground for hundreds of miles and a blinding flash of gold that blured his vision for a few moments. When it cleared and he could see again the energy ball was gone. The rock spires were gone. The floating jellybeans were gone. Everything around him looked like the normal H.F.I.L. again.

He blinked in confusion then as he saw something, no, someone, fall from about where the center of the energy ball had been. It wasn't Janbema, he could tell that much even from this distance. He shot in and reached the area just as the form hit the ground. Bardock, Kibito, and Mikomi joining him a second later. "An... Oni?" Goku asked, confused.

Mikomi knelt down and placed a hand on the Oni's forehead. "He's dead." she said. "I think this was the Oni that was possessed by the evil that created Janemba. I think, in a way, he was Janemba."

"So... it's dead then? For good?" Bardock asked.

Mikomi nodded. "I believe so, yes." she said. "My injuries vanished on their own and all of the distortions around here seem to have gone as well. All trace of his presence has left."

"But what the hell was that with the Spirit Bomb?" Bardock wondered, looking up into the sky.

"My hand went right into him." said Goku. "When I tried to hit him with it it just went right in."

"The energy of the Spirit Bomb was too pure." said Mikomi. "He couldn't resist it at all. And I think, because it worked from the inside out, it purified him. Destroyed all of the evil and returned him back to this, to what existed before the evil took over." She stood back up again and sighed. "Well, at least that is one threat we wont have to worry about anymore. But another, larger one, still awaits us."

Bardock nodded. "Yeah, we should get moving. I'd like some time to rest and recover from that fight but we need to get to the others."

"I can help with your recovery." Kibtio said. He held his hands out toward the two Sai-jins and golden energy began to flow from him into the pair. A moment later he stopped and lowered his arms again. "There, I've restored your bodies to peak condition."

"Haha, this is great!" Goku cried, stretching a little. "I feel good as new!"

"Then let us continue on to the entrance to Hell." said Mikomi. "And try and put an end to this mess."


	53. Allies

Chapter Fifty-three - Allies

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, slowed, and then descended to land on the barren ground. He'd just felt a sudden power spike near him, coming quickly in his direction. It wasn't a huge power, somewhere near his own level best as he could figure. The fact it wasn't closer to what he'd sensed from the Supreme Kai back on planet Vegeta lead him to believe it wasn't the Dabura or Nefaria that he was looking for. /More likely it's another Demon./ he thought, turning his gaze in that direction.

He saw a spark of black and red energy coming toward him quickly and turned to face it. As he did he also felt another power spike, well off to his right, near where he could sense Gohan. Reaching his senses out further he found Videl some distance beyond him, another large power near her. /Demons, definitely./ he thought. /Probably placed here to watch for either defenders from above or Dabura. Well, maybe I'll get a decent fight finally./

A moment later the black and red aura burst open and the individual within landed softly just a few dozen feet ahead of him. He was short, about a head shorter than Vegeta, and covered in dark red scales. He wore robes like those of the Demons he fought before, his eyes glowed solid green, and his face was vaguely pig-shaped in appearance, complete with the large tusks of your average wild boar. All in all, he was a rather disgusting and ugly creature.

"Hmmm, you're not one of us." the Demon said in a high pitched squeal of a voice, like that of a mouse, that made Vegeta cringe. "Interesting. Your power is incredible and yet you lack a halo so you are not one of the dead champions of Shinkai, nor one of the dead prisoners of the H.F.I.L., and certainly not a native of Hell. They've all gone upward for the war effort."

"I take it you're another one of Quietus's lackies?" Vegeta asked, crossing his arms and smirking. "You wouldn't happen to know where Dabura or Nefaria are, would you?"

"You know of Quietus? Hm... And you seek Dabura and Nefaria? Interestng. Yes. Very interesting."

"Well, do you know?"

"Hmm? Know? No, I don't know. I'm supposed to, I've been hunting for them, but they are good at hiding. Not that I'm disappointed at that, I couldn't fight them, and I don't think I could escape from them either. So not finding them is good for my health. Finding you, I think, is good for me in more ways than that. Yes. Quietus will, I think, be interested in knowing who you are. In why you are here, yes indeed. So then, you will just have to come with me."

Vegeta snorted. He could feel Videl and Gohan's energies still and they'd gone active. The two of them were already fighting with the Demons they'd encountered. The other two Demons had become slightly more powerful than a moment before, putting them both stronger than Gohan and Videl. It wasn't by a staggering amount but he figured it'd be enough to prove a slight advantage for the Demons. He also figured it likely this Demon was a little stronger than he'd yet let on, though doubted he'd be much stronger than himself.

"I highly doubt that." he said at last, uncrossing his arms. "Let's go, pig face."

XXX

Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City

Yamcha clenched his hands into fists as he tried to look through the settling dust for some sign of his wife. The fact that she hadn't answered him yet bothered him, as did his inability to sense her, but he wasn't going to give up that easy. -Hotaru, come on, give me some sign you're ok!- he called telepathicaly.

-Y...Yam...cha...-

Yamcha's head twisted to the right as he reached out in the direction he thought the mental 'voice' had come from. Hearing it had both lessened and worsened his fears. She was alive but the voice sounded faint, weak. It took only a second longer to pinpoint her energy. It was low, incredibly low, and it was still dropping. In a flash of blue-white light he covered the distance between them in less than a second, kneeling down in the rubble beside where she laid.

The power of the attack she'd unleashed had blown her backwards, and down into the ground, litterly, by about three hundred feet. He wasn't sure which had done more of the damage he was seeing, the use of the Genkai Toppa or being driven so hard through the ground. Either way her clothes were in tatters, she was covered in blood, her arms and legs were twisted in ways that clearly marked them as broken, and her breathing was slow and shallow, small bubbles of blood forming on her lips.

-I'm here.- he told her, and then thought /Damn it./ as he looked her over, afraid to touch her for fear it would hurt her, maybe even kill her. /What do I do? None of us have any Senzus, we didn't bring any with us from Earth, we didn't think we'd need them, and I'm not even sure she'd be able to eat one even if I had it. And I can't carry her to a Regen Tank like this, moving her would kill her for sure./ He looked up and turned to look behind him as he felt powers nearing. Sango and Piccolo were flying over and at the sight of them he had an idea.

"Sango." he said as she reached him. "Do you think you could use your Terepo to reach Earth?"

She shook her head slowly and sadly. "No." she said. "It's too far for me."

"Damn it!" he cried, punching a nearby rock into dust. "There has to be something we can do! We can't let her die, she's been revived twice already!" Suddenly he felt a spike of power in the sky as a flash of blue light filled the area. /Cell!/ he wondered, looking up into the sky. But no, it wasn't Cell, it was the Grand Kai. All of them, the original and the copies. They were floating in a circle in the sky, arms held out, some sort of blue energy sphere forming between them.

It took a few moments and then there was a bright flash and a crack as the sphere vanished. Left floating in its place, at the point that was dead center in the energy sphere, was what looked like a crystal ball, about the size of a basketball. The copies of the Grand Kai floated into the original then, vanishing, leaving just the one behind who then floated over and took the ball into his hands, tucking it under an arm.

Zenryou then turned and looked down toward where Yamcha and Sango knelt beside Hotaru and floated down to join them. Landing he held the crystal ball out to Piccolo and the Namek took it, gazing into it in wonder and confusion. He gasped a moment later as he saw Cell's face swirl past for a moment, then vanish. Zenryou, however, had already moved over to Hotaru and was kneeling down beside her. He placed one hand gently on her forehead and the other over her abdomen as gold light began to emanate from them.

As Sango and Yamcha watched Hotaru's limbs began to twist and right themselves, her bones to mend, her skin to seal over where it had been sliced open, and her breathing became more and more normal once more. Then, at last, her eyes fluttered open again. Zenryou smiled, nodded, and lifted his hands away. "Your body is restored but I can do nothing for your lost energy." he said. "But that should return in a few hours on its own."

"And Cell?" she asked, sitting up and looking into the sky. "Did it work?"

Zenryou's smile grew. "It did indeed." he said, standing and taking the crystal ball back from Piccolo. "Cell is now contained in here. This will hold him until it's safe to release him and deal with him permanently."

"I can't believe you did that." Yamcha said. "Are you crazy?"

"I had to do something." Hotaru replied. "I couldn't hold him off on my own, if I hadn't used the Genkai Toppa we'd all be dead now."

"What was it, exactly, that you did?" asked Zenryou. "I've never felt anything like that before."

"The Genkai Toppa uses mental energy to break the bodily limits on ki production and expulsion." she said. "And to channel the released power in the desired direction. It effectively tranforms all of your potential power into raw power."

"Ah." Zenryou said, nodding. That would explain the sheer level of power, and the odd sensations, that the move had produced. There were actually four 'types' of ki. Passive ki, active ki, hidden ki, and reserve ki. Passive ki was what the body made use of to function, active was what a person used to fight and fly with, hidden was active ki that was present but could not be called upon for one reason or another, and reserve ki was energy that did not yet exist but had the potential to. Similar in concept to the idea in physics of potential energy becoming kinetic energy.

The body naturally drew out reserve ki to replenish its stock of active ki as a person wore down over time. The more stamina a person had the more reserve ki they had, and vice versa. He wasn't too surprised that Hotaru had found a means to convert all of her reserve ki into active ki, either. Her Kinryoku had laid the base work for that, forcibly converting and drawing out the user's reserve ki as active ki in order to make them more powerful. However, the fact that she had managed to convert and unleash all of her reserve ki in an instant, and survive, was quite impressive. That much power unleashed through the body would normally rip it apart.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Piccolo.

"Now I return to Otherworld, and take Cell back with me." replied Zenryou, turning his focus to the Namek. "From there... we wait and see how the battle goes in Makai. With any luck Goku and Bardock will be able to use the Spirit Bomb to defeat Quietus and put an end to this at last."

"Until then we still have Demons, ressurected enemies, and Zombies to clear out of the city." said Yamcha.

"I'm going to have to sit out for a few hours." Hotaru said, slowly climbing to her feet. "I need to rest to get my strength back, I'm utterly spent after that."

"Well, let's go let the others know the battle is over and then get started on that." said Sango, turning away.

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L., Near the Entrance to Hell

"Well, that made things quicker." Bardock said, looking around at their new location. With Janemba's destruction Mikomi decided to try and teleport them all to the entrance into Hell, instead of flying there as the others had done. Now that he was gone it was possible again, and so they'd reached the entrance instantly, instead of having to fly several more minutes. Goku wanted to get down into Hell as quickly possible to make sure the others weren't in any trouble.

"This looks kind of familiar." Goku said, gazing up at the snake head. "Different color, and it's a tunnel instead of a bridge, but it's like Snakeway."

"Yes." Mikomi said. "This is the red Snakeway, the path to Hell. I'm unsure of the length but it will lead you into Hell."

"Well, I guess we should get going." said Bardock.

"One moment." Kibito said. "It may not be quite that easy."

"What do you mean?" asked Goku.

"Gohan was required to transform in order to cross the boundry."

Mikomi blinked and then turned and looked up at the large man. "Required to transform? What do you mean?"

"Both Vegeta and Videl were able to cross without issue but he was pushed back from entering the path into Hell by the same force as us, until he transformed." Kibito said, glancing at the Supreme Kai before turning his gaze back to Goku. "I am interested to see how these two fair. Gohan seemed to think that Goku would have the same trouble." Kibito walked up to the tunnel and reached a hand out, pushing it in as far as he could. "Gohan wasn't even able to get this far."

Mikomi blinked again. "Incredible. I have never heard of such a thing."

"I'm confused, what's all this about?" asked Goku.

"I'm with Goku." said Bardock. "What was it that kept Gohan from going through?"

"His purity." replied Mikomi. "I said before that we can not enter Hell, it is because there is too much good in us. The opposing forces of good and evil are polar opposites. When in a high enough concentration the two forces will push against each other. It is this force that prevents us Kais, and apparently an untransformed Gohan, from entering Hell."

"I think I get it." Goku said, walked toward the red Snakeway. He stopped beside Kibito and reached out an arm, his hand stopping at about the same point as Kibito's. "Huh, you weren't kidding. It's like pushing against an invisible wall."

Bardock walked over and tried the same. "I don't feel anything."

"Neither did Vegeta or Videl." said Kibito, lowering his arm. "And Gohan found more resistance than Goku does. Either way, it means that Goku will have to remain transformed while in Hell."

"Yes." Mikomi said. "It is the only way to enter and it could be dangerous to revert while inside, I have no idea what effect a pure pressence inside of Hell might have."

Goku shrugged and then flashed gold as he transformed, arm still outstretched. "Huh, cool." he said, pushing his arm in further. "The invisible wall is gone."

"Alright, let's go catch up to the others." Bardock said, transforming as well.

"Good luck, both of you." Mikomi said, nodding to them.

"Don't worry." Bardock said, grinning. "We'll take this Quietus guy down in no time."

"It's gonna be great!" Goku cheered. "Come on, let's go!"

XXX

Otherworld, Hell

A sharp, shrill, laughing sounded as the pig faced Demon brushed the dirt off his robes. "You call that an attack?" he asked in his high and squealy voice. "That was pathetic."

Vegeta panted, floating a few dozen feet in the air, arms still outstretched. /How is he... still standing?/ he wondered. /I put everything... I could muster... into that attack. His power isn't that much greater than mine, this makes no sense!/ He lowered his arms and shook his head. "This isn't over yet, you freak." He was just about to charge down in to attack again when there was a sudden loud crack of an explosion behind him, accompanied by a bright white light.

He paused and looked back over his shoulder toward the sound and light. /Gohan's power just dropped off, I can't sense it anymore. Damn, Videl's is gone too./ He scowled as he turned his focus back toward the Demon he'd been fighting. This was seriously starting to annoy him. He shouldn't be having nearly this much trouble and the brat and the girl shouldn't have lost so quickly, either.

"Looks like you're on your own." the Demon said, grinning.

"For now." Vegeta replied. /Though I don't intend to rely on Kakkarotto to help out./ he thought, scowling more. In a burst of gold he shot down at the Demon, pulling back his fist as he flew. He had almost reached the Demon when a new power suddenly twinged in his mind, off in the direction of Gohan and Videl. A rather large one. But he didn't have time to think about it now.

XXX

Otherworld, Red Snakeway

Goku had suggested transforming again, and flying at full speed, after about ten minutes of flight down the tunnel. He was anxious to catch up with the others, both to make sure they were ok and to get moving on their 'mission' so he could find out just how strong this Quietus actually was. Bardock and vetoed that idea, however. Getting healed up by Kibito earlier had been a nice surprise but they couldn't expect similar to happen again and wasting energy by flying at full speed could prove a bad thing.

"I just hope we reach the end of this thing soon." Goku complained, frowning. It had now been about a half hour since they started down the tunnel and still there was no sign of an end. "We'd have reached King Kai's a long time ago if this were the same length as that path."

"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it." responded Bardock. "I just hope the others reached the other end in time to catch this Dabura person. We've been flying along this long at our speed... if they didn't go up to top speed we might actually catch up to them soo..." he trailed off as the tunnel suddenly came to an abrupt end around the corner he'd just turned and the two of them emerged into a barren wasteland. Black and red clouds in the sky and dark brown, black, and red rocks covering the ground.

"Wow, this place looks friendly." Goku said, gazing around. "I wonder if this is where Frieza and Cell have been the last few years?"

"Probably." said Bardock. "And I don't like this. I can't sense any of the others, just one high power..."

"Me either, come on, let's go."

Bardock nodded and the two of them took off, flying toward the high power they could sense. Neither of them recognized the energy which had them concerned. Whoever it was was weaker than them but had the others totally outclassed. If they were an enemy... Bardock wasn't sure what would happen to a living person who died in Hell and he wasn't interested in finding out. As they drew closer to the high power he also noticed it shift slightly. Whoever it was had noticed them coming and wasn't running.

/Not that I'd expect them too. Goku and I are strong but, as far as they can tell, not on their level. Of course, that's assuming they're an enemy. That's probably what they're waiting to find out./

"Do you think this could be the Dabura we were told about?" asked Goku. "It's not stronger than the Supreme Kai but it could be a supressed level."

"Maybe." said Bardock. "I don't know, it's not what I expected. I mean, I can feel evil in it, but..."

"Yeah, it's weird." said Goku. "Janemba's energy was really dark and chaotic, but this doesn't feel nearly as evil, and it's a lot more controlled. Even Cell's energy was darker than this." The two of them flew on in silence for a moment longer before slowing. "Oh, hey, I can sense Gohan!"

Bardock nodded. He could now, too. His power was low but stable, and near the higher power. They'd simply over looked it because the larger one was so big. As the two of them came down to land they spotted Gohan sitting on the ground, leaning back against a rock, and resting. He'd obviously been in a fight, one it looked like the losing end of. His gi was torn and there were blood stains on his face, but despite his low power he was still transformed.

Standing beside him was a woman in a blue gi with a black belt, black wrist bands, purple skin, and wild and spiky red hair. The normally white part of her eyes was black, the irises were white, and then the pupil was black, giving her eyes an odd look. She was watching the two of them closely, obvious interest in her eyes. Neither Sai-jin paid her much mind after the first glance, she was standing by in a relaxed posture so she wasn't an enemy.

"I thought it was you I sensed." Gohan said, smiling slightly and then wincing.

"What happened?" asked Bardock.

"We split up to try and find Dabura but some Demons found us." he replied, shaking his head. "The one I fought wasn't that much stronger then me, but... I couldn't seem to hurt him."

"It's because of this place." said the purple skinned woman in a much softer and gentler voice than either Sai-jin had expected. "Here in Hell the Demons would have a distinct advantage. The amount of evil floating around in the air would strengthen and heal them."

"So... where are the others?" asked Goku.

"I don't know. I was just losing my fight and got distracted when I felt Videl's power suddenly nose dive. The Demon I was fighting almost got me then, but then she showed up and saved me, and chased him off."

"So who are you?" Goku asked, looking toward her.

"My name is Nefaria." she replied. "I am one of the Supreme Mazoku of Makai. As for the other two who came with him they were most likely captured by Akuhei and Paine, the Demons they were fighting. There hasn't been any information coming through from Shinkai yet so they'd be considered valuable sources of information, to find out how the war is going."

Bardock snorted. "The war is over." he said. "At least, it is in Shinkai. The attacking forces, Demon and formerly dead alike, have been dealt with."

"Maku and Angel?"

"Don't know about anyone named Angel," began Goku. "But the Supreme Kai took out Maku after he transformed in our fight."

"Same with Angel." said Gohan. "She was the leader of the forces on Planet Vegeta."

"I see." Nefaria said, nodding. "We had not expected Shinkai to so successively drive back Quietus' army." She roamed her eyes over the three Sai-jins for a moment. "Gohan has explained some of who you are to me. There is no mortal in all of Makai wtih even half as much power as you three. He says that you have been sent by the Supreme Kai to help us in stopping Quietus? You are strong, I will give you that, but I do not see how you could help us to stop him."

"The Supreme Kai's plan is a Spirit Bomb." explained Bardock. "A technique that Goku and I know that draws out pure energy from any donors willing to give it."

"Ah, I see." Nefaria said, nodding in understanding. "An attack of pure energy would be devastating to him, and if the energy comes from donors then the attack is not limited by your own power."

"Yeah."

"So where would these Demons have taken Videl and Vegeta, exactly?" asked Goku. "Cause now we've got to rescue them, too."

"They'll most likely be taken to the palace in the Mazoku Plane." answered Nefaria. "Which, if we are to stop Quietus, is our destination as well."

"I want to come, too." Gohan said, picking himself up off the ground.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Bardock said slowly.

"You two have to create the Spirit Bomb to stop Quietus. You don't have time to try and rescue Videl and Vegeta. Let me come along, I can get them out while you fight Quietus."

"The kid has a point." said Nefaria. "He doesn't compare to any of the Supreme Mazoku but he would have no issue dealing with anyone else in Makai. My fellow Supreme Mazoku will likely have their hands busy dealing with Lord Dabura and I, if they're even still alive by then. Lord Dabura does not take betrayal lightly."

"He's not in any condition to fight, though." countered Goku.

"I can correct that." said Nefaria, holding a hand out toward Gohan. A moment later black and red energy flowed from her palm and into the half Sai-jin and he instantly felt his power return and his body heal. "There. He's at full power once more."

"She can do like Kibito..." Bardock said, grinning. "That's good to know. It could come in handy."

"So, are we ready to go then?" she asked.

"Let's go." Gohan said, nodding. 


	54. Shinkai's Counterattack

Chapter Fifty-four - Shinkai's Counterattack

"Still no video, yet?" Raven asked, pacing back and forth in the room. The energy reading they'd been following had vanished almost forty minutes ago, now. The power that Goku and Bardock had been up against had also vanished. The fight was clearly over and it had Raven concerned. She wasn't as willing as her mate or Razor to simply write off the battle as merely a prelude to larger things to come. She was concerned that Quietus had weakened during his imprisonment and that battle had been the one they were counting on to set them free.

If that were the case... she had no idea what they would do next. They could shift back still but there was no way for them to make Quietus stronger than he was. Razor's magic would be ineffective on him and there was no way to get any of the fruit to him, and it would be unlikely he'd even eat it, anyway. Without him... they'd have to find some other trigger, some other means to get the energy they required. And she wasn't sure if there WAS another means.

"Raven, relax." Razor said from where he stood leaning against the wall by the door. "It's not over yet. Or have you not realized that Goku and Bardock have vanished?"

Raven stopped, glanced back at Razor, then turned her focus to the monitors. "Vanished?" she asked aloud.

"Their powers disappeared from our scanners almost half an hour ago. Which means they're no longer in any of the Planes that we can scan. That means either in Heaven or in Hell. Considering that there's no one in Heaven for them to fight, and that their destination is Makai which can only be reached through Hell..."

"They're still going, which means Quietus is still out there." she said slowly.

"Precisely." replied Razor. "I understand your worry and agitation. We are very close to our objective at last, after thousands of years of planning, and despite all of our efforts everything still hinges on this one event. The one thing we couldn't plan around, the one plan that can't fail if we are to succeed. Everything's riding on this, on them, so I know why you're anxious, but there's nothing we can do from in here. Either they succeed or they fail.

"The outcome isn't even all that important. If they succeed then we get what we want. If they fail then we just go back and try it again, it would only take a few tweaks here and there in history to change things. A failure at this point is only a minor set back, a decade at most."

"A decade more than I want to be here." said Raven. "Ravenna's spent her entire life in this Kai forsaken prison, she deserves better than that. Fresh air, sun, solid ground under her feet."

"I know, and she'll get it. Don't worry. While we can't control the outcome of this situation we can always keep redoing it until we get the result we want. Failure is not a defeat."

Raven sighed and massaged her temples. "I know." she said. "I'm just sick of this. Sick of waiting, sick of being couped up, sick of this life."

"It'll be over soon." her mate said from his chair. "Even if they fail now we'll still be out of here within a century. What is a centry to the countless millenia we have already spent here? Besides, I don't think they'll fail. We've prepared them too well, and the Supreme Kai has walked right into our plan."

"Can they really hold Quietus off long enough, though?" asked Ravenna. "It'll take time for a Spirit Bomb."

"Quietus outclasses Dabura, true, but working together with Nefaria, and fighting it out in the Mazoku Plane, should help to even things." said Razor. "Plus, one of them should be able to open a direct line into the Dead Zone for the two of them to draw their energy from. Don't forget, the Dead Zone is where Makai sends their purist souls. Drawing power from them will hasten the creation of the Spirit Bomb, it'll just take a few moments for the energy to travel the distance first."

"Razor is right, we have good odds." said the man in the chair. "In fact, I think it is time to begin our final preperations. Razor, tell General Ozotto to begin all pre-launch combat preparations and to begin handing out the assigned orders. Then get into touch with Mainframe and set the systems into stand-by mode so it is ready to revive our new friend. I want everything and everyone ready to move as soon as the field collapses."

XXX

Otherworld, Grand Kai's World

Zenryou floated back into Otherworld through the tear from Planet Vegeta. With the current instabilities he figured returning through tear was the simpiler choice. He'd spent a while in the Mortal Plane speaking with Hotaru, Piccolo, and the Sai-jin senator about various matters ranging from the protection of Otherworld to the routing of the Demons and ressurected dead in the Mortal Plane, to Akemi's future Kai-ness. The latter matter being the one the Tanarian Queen had been most interested in.

Now, at last, he was back, and as soon as he came through he could tell the fight in the H.F.I.L. had ended as well. It was hard not to notice the absence of four powers of such magnitude. All of the Kais had been shocked with how much power the two Sai-jins had put out in that battle, though it seemed that Appla and Sora had known in advance how strong they were. He couldn't quite figure how the two of them had managed to become that strong without anyone noticing it.

Then again, they did like to dissappear for months at a time, flying way off into the depths of Otherworld, to train without interuption. If they were to fly out far enough they would be fairly easily overlooked by those not looking for them. It made him wonder what other secrets the two of them could be hiding, and it made him even more certain that they could handle matters in Makai. While weaker than Mikomi, Yasuragi, and Yousha they were both more powerful than Shin had been. With the help of Dabura and the Supreme Mazoku still loyal to him they just might be able to succeed.

Still, defeat of Quietus would not end matters entirely. There was still the issue of those Demons left in Shinkai. The horde that had invaded the Realm had certainly not left it yet. They were merely in hiding, scattered through out Otherworld, and they had to be dealt with. Now that the strongest attackers in both Otherworld and the Mortal Plane had been repulsed it was time to go on the offensive.

"Grand Kai." Pikkon said as he nodded and flew over to join him.

"How are things here?" he asked as they flew off toward his mansion.

"There hasn't been any problems since your depature." the long dead alien replied. "I think, perhaps, the powers felt in the H.F.I.L. scared off most of the attacking force."

Zenryou smirked. "Yes, I'm quite sure it did." he said.

Pikkon eyed up the glass orb tucked under the Kai's right arm. "What's that?"

Landing on one of the upper balconies Zenryou motioned and the glass doors before him swung open. "One of our troublemakers." he replied as he walked into the mansion. "That Cell creature. Unfortunately containment is the best we can do for him at present. Until the doors are re-opened again it is impossible for him to die. He wouldn't be the first immortal in the the Mortal Plane, but when they insist on causing trouble we won't let them run around as they please, even when they're not part of an invading army." he explained as he lead the way through the halls.

"Anyway, we need to start focusing on matters here. The Demons and escapees from Hell and the H.F.I.L. may have gone into hiding but they haven't left Otherworld. They either need to be eliminated or contained, we can't simply let them run around. Quietus's defeat will put an end to the invasion but it wont fix the instabilities in Shinkai and those troublemakers still around could still cause us a lot of grief."

The two of them were now deep inside the mansion in a section that Pikkon had never seen before. The mahogany wood floors and walls had given away to cold damp stone. The windows were gone now and the only light came from the occasional light bulb in the ceiling. As they rounded a corner they came upon a pair of large double doors, fifteen feet tall by ten feet wide. There were six metal beams going across the door through a series of slats as well as a pair of metal chains criss-crossing the doors from corner to corner, a large padlock in the center through the chains and the door's handles.

The Grand Kai held an arm out toward the door, made a few motions with his hand, and then the lock snapped open, the chains fell away, and the bars slid out of their slots. There was a faint click a second later and then the doors swung open admiting the pair into the room. It didn't seem very large to Pikkon, maybe ten foot across and another ten wide. But as he stepped closer and looked up he noticed that he couldn't see the ceiling.

"It goes up forever." Zenryou said, noticing him looking. "Not that we've ever needed that much space in here yet." He nodded to the back wall where several crystal balls, like the one he held, rested inside small basins on a few shelves. A quick glance was all the dead warrior needed to count them, a grand total of forty-six of them. Forty-seven as Zenryou set the ball holding Cell into one of the basins as well.

"All of our immortal troublemakers." the Grand Kai explained as he left the room, motioned again, and the door closed and resealed itself. "There are still four or five immortals out there in the living world, but as they don't stir up trouble we let them be. Anyway, let's head back up, I need to talk with the other Kais and some of the other warriors. We need to start arranging to clear out the Demons."

"I take it you already have something in mind?" Pikkon asked as the two made their way back out of the mansion.

"More or less." replied the Kai. "We're going to divide up our forces. The lower Kais, you, Olibu, Appla, and Sora will be placed in charge of separate teams. We're going to be working a lot of fronts at once in this, I want to try and restore order to Otherworld, not just rout our interlopers. For one, I want to try applying some brute force to the doors between the planes. We don't yet know what exactly caused them to close and it may be possible to simply muscle them open, we've just not had the time or man power to try yet."

Pikkon nodded as they stepped back out onto the balcony of the mansion. "That would certainly help clear up matters in the Mortal Plane, at least to a degree."

"Yes. It should eliminate the walking corpses, for one. And once the doors are open again my powers in the Mortal Plane will be back to normal, or should be, and I'll be able to deal with any further problems that arise there far more easily. Plus it will help greatly in clearing out any remaining enemy forces in that Plane."

Zenryou looked over those still gathered in the open fields near his mansion. Quite a few of them were still obviously exhausted, and for good reason. It had barely been more than an hour since they'd driven back the attackers. He still found it hard to believe that Makai's invasion had failed so miserably and quickly. In less than an hour the invaders had gone from an overwhelming horde to hiding and on the run. It was a good sign, one that made him optimistic about their chances.

Turning to his left he nodded to Mikomi and Kibito as they suddenly appeared a few feet away. It was King Kai that spoke up, however, from where he stood a few yards away with some of his fighters. "So Janemba's been stopped?"

"Completely destroyed." replied Mikomi. "It gives me greater hope that this plan will work against Quietus. The Demon is more powerful than Janemba was but the principles remain the same."

"Indeed." said Zenryou. "And while they are dealing with that it is time that we attend to matters here."

XXX

Otherworld, Hell, The Path Between Realms

The four of them were flying through Hell at significant speed, heading for the path way that would let them cross into Makai. According to the Supreme Mazoku they were only a few minutes away from the path now, after a good ten minutes of flight already. Also according to her the trip between realms wasn't very long at all, just a few moments. Apparently the path wasn't an actual, physical, path like the one between the H.F.I.L. and Hell. She called it a 'transdimensional vortex' but none of the Sai-jins had any clue what that was.

Bardock had something else more pressing on his mind, anyway. During the flight they'd asked Nefaria about things in Makai, trying get a feel and understanding of what was going on there. They found out that she wasn't entirely new to her post, having become a full fledged Supreme Mazoku about five hundred years before, apparently replacing someone named Yokuatsu whom Dabura had killed following the previous incident with Quietus as a message to the rest, choosing him because he was the Supreme Mazoku of the Mazoku Plane.

The message, it seemed, was one that they had not listened to. The other three Supreme Mazoku, as well as the Grand Mazoku, had all sided with Quietus. The four Lower Mazoku had all chosen to remain neutral in the matter, not siding with either group, just as they had done before. While she was explaning this she named the various Mazoku, the lower four first, then Malchio, the Grand Mazoku, who's name Bardock had recognized hearing from Maku. He hadn't recognized the names Neikan or Daikirai but the last name she gave rang a bell.

"Aku?" he asked, turning his head slightly to look at her. "Hey, Goku, didn't Maku mention someone named Aku?"

"Uh, maybe?" Goku replied. "Something about looking for Dabura in his place, I think."

Nefaria blinked and glanced bewteen the two Sai-jins. "Aku is searching for Lord Dabura?" she asked, frowning. Turning her gaze forward again she narrowed her eyes as she thought. /Aku doesn't have the power to fight against Lord Dabura. Quietus wont use his powers to make any of the Mazoku stronger, likely for fear they might surpass him, a concern that seems quite valid with the power some Demons have gained. Anyway, outmatched as he is he certainly wouldn't want to confront Lord Dabura, so.../

"Something wrong?" asked Bardock.

"Maybe." she replied after a moment. "Aku would not confront Lord Dabura if he found him, nor would he be likely to approach me. In Lord Dabura's case he would avoid a fight because he would stand no chance. In my case he would not want to alert Lord Dabura that he's around. He would need to power up to fight me, and even if that went unnoticed my death would not. Which means his only option is to find Lord Dabura, return to Makai, and get help. Either from the other three Supreme Mazoku or from Quietus himself. This wouldn't be a problem if I had continued to try and hide my presence after I met Gohan."

"I get it." said Gohan. "If this Aku is around he's certainly sensed you, and us, so he can track us. And as we're flying to meet Dabura..."

"Exactly. Though I suppose it may not matter. The only way it would present a problem to us is if Aku were to get through to Makai first and that is unlikely. He's most likely monitoring us to be sure that we're leading him to Dabura. He wont make his move for Makai until he's sure of that, so we should be able to beat him through, and thus avoid any ambushes at the other end. Anyway, we've arrived."

Goku blinked, turned his gaze from her, and looked down at where they were descending to land. It looked like a massive swirling lake of blue, green, and red light. The whirlpool at the center of the lake vansihed into the depths and out of sight. A rock outcropping jutted out from the right of the shore reaching out up over the swirling light and coming to a stop in the middle, directly over the center of the whirlpool.

"Not what I was expecting." said Gohan as they landed on the outcropping. "Then again, nothing down here has been what I expected."

"I see you've made some new friends." a deep voice sounded from behind them, startling the three Sai-jins. They hadn't felt anyone approach and turning to look found themselves looking at a red skined man with short cut black hair, a black goatee, short horns, pointy ears, black eyes that were yellow where they should have been white, and wearing a blue outfit with white boots and a white cape that left his chest bare.

"Lord Dabura." Nefaria said, bowing slightly to him. "These three have been sent by the Supreme Kai to help us against Quietus."

"Oh?" he wondered, eyes going over the three Sai-jins with her. "They are stronger than I expected any of Shinkai to be, especially since none of them have halos, but I do not see how they could be of any aid to us."

"What you sense is not their full power." said Nefaria. "I do not know how strong these two are but the boy is stronger than even Malchio. Besides, it is not for their strength that they were sent, but their skill. The two older ones know how to perform an attack called the Spirit Bomb that is created from donated pure energy. The boy is coming along merely to rescue some friends who were captured by Akuhei and Paine."

"Yes, I saw them go through the vortex a short while ago." Dabura said, nodding. "And this is a most interesting turn of events. The boy is tronger than Malchio, you say? I've never heard of a regular mortal suprassing the powers of a Grand Mazoku or Grand Kai, certainly not a living one." Dabura tilted his head slightly as he gazed at the three of them. "Your appearance is... familiar, however. What race are you?"

"We're Sai-jins." said Bardock. "Well, Gohan's only half Sai-jin."

"Sai-jin... Sai-jin..." Dabura mused. Suddenly he smirked, the action revealing a long gleaming fang. "Ah-ha, you're Super Sai-jins. My, my, my, this is an unexpected turn. Unexpected indeed."

"Huh? You know about Sai-jins?" asked Goku, confused.

"Oh, quite well." said Dabura. "But that is neither here, nor there, and not important. Very well, with you two along, and this 'Spirit Bomb' of yours, our chances at success are certainly greater than before. Come, time is of the essence. Akuhei, Paine, and Malus will no doubt inform those with Quietus of the battle here. And Aku has just recently gone through as well, it will not be hard for Quietus to figure out that Shinkai is mounting a counter-invasion. I do not want to be caught with my pants down, as it were."

XXX

Makai, Dead Zone, The Path Between Realms

Daikirai pulled to a stop and nodded to Neikan. Where as Neikan was a large and powerfully built green skinned man with a blonde mohawk and blue eyes Daikirai's skin was as dark as shadow, his eyes red, and his hair long and white. The only thing the two had in common with each other, or the other Supreme Mazoku, were their pointed ears. "Still no word?" he asked.

"No." Neikan replied. "I've had no new information at all yet. I don't know what's taking them all so long, I should have started getting reports in almost a half hour ago."

"Maybe the Demons screwed up." Daikirai said, smirking. "I wouldn't be surprised. Lord Quietus should have left those weaklings out of this and just sent the three of us to deal with Shinkai. We could have completely crushed the Realm by now."

"Lord Quietus has chosen caution over reckless action this time, not surprising considering how things played out before. He can not be certain that there is only one Supreme Kai left still. After all, Nefaria has already replaced Yokuatsu. None of us expected a replacement to come along for him so fast, especially considering how long Shinkai went with two of its number missing. Our informants could only guess that there was still one Supreme Kai, it's possible all of their posts have been filled again, in which case it would be three on four."

"True, I suppose." Daikirai said. "And give them another shot at a Blood Crystal. Still, even with four of them they would be no match for the three of us. Oh well, it doesn't really matter I suppose. Us or the Demons, either way Shinkai will fall and we'll be rulling by tomorrow. Anyway, I need to be going."

"Going? I had thought you came to look for a report."

"No, Lord Quietus is sending me through to Shinkai to look into something. I don't really know what's up myself but apparently he sensed something unusual happen in Shinkai's Mortal Plane involving a massive green creature with red eyes." Daikirai shrugged. "Whatever it is has his inter..." The Supreme Mazoku trailed off there as the pulsing white light that marked the path to the Realm of Shinkai, the only light in the empty void of the Dead Zone, suddenly pulsed and spread apart into a swirling mist tunnel. Someone was coming through from the other side.

"What's this?" Neikan asked as Malus, Akuhei, and Paine emerged from the swirling mists. The pig-faced Akuhei had someone slung over his shoulder while Paine had someone else clutched under an arm and Malus was holding his right hand against his left shoulder which seemed to be bleeding somewhat heavily. "Who are these two? What's happened?"

"Not really sure who they are." squealed Akuhei. "Three of them came down from the H.F.I.L. looking for Nefaria and Dabura."

"Three? I only see two." said Daikirai.

"Nefaria showed up at my fight." said Malus in a deep rumble of a voice. "I barely got away. These three fighters, though, they're not normal. If we hadn't been fighting them in Hell..."

"We could have very well lost." Paine finished in a smooth and sultry voice as she shifted the weight of the person under her arm. "They're not quite as strong as us, but far more skilled and used to their high powers."

"Wait, you're saying these two Shinkai mortals are almost as powerful as you three?" asked Daikirai. "That's not possible, they're not even dead!"

"And we're only Demons." countered Paine. "As is Lord Quietus. Besides, we were told to expect power like this, and did witness it in that Cell creature." Paine had been one of the few Demons to interact with those from Shinkai during the plan to restore Quietus to power and had dealt extensively with Cell, and had witnessed just how powerful he was when he'd sparred with Malchio as a way to convince those of Makai just what they were dealing with in Shinkai. She hadn't been particularly surprised when her opponent had suddenly increased in power to nearly match her own.

"Bah, I still say it's a bunch of hogwash!" Daikirai retorted. "These two, and that other one, must have done something special first. Magic or something, made them seem stronger."

"It's possible but either way Lord Quietus needs to know of this." said Neikan. "These two could be useful sources of information, and in fact already have been. If they were in Hell then the invasion has been stopped, Angel and Maku have failed. Maybe... this is what Lord Quietus sensed? That green creature with the red eyes could be reponsible for this."

"If that's the case then I need to get to Shinkai and find out what it was." Daikirai said. He then turned to face Malus. "You said that Nefaria came at you?" he asked and the Demon nodded. "I'll have to try and avoid her. I could deal with her, but if she's surfaced in Hell then Dabura can't be far behind her and I'd rather not run in to him."

"You three, return to Limbo and turn over the prisoners to Malchio, then go to the Mazoku Plane and Lord Quietus to report all of this." Neikan ordered. The three nodded and then flew off as the Supreme Mazoku turned to his companion. "Don't do anything reckless. If the attack has failed then the Supreme Kai will be on the watch for any further attempts at invasion."

"I know, though I would love the chance to kill her." He shook his head. "No time to play, though, mission fir..." he trailed off again as, once again, the light flared open in to a swirling mist tunnel. This time it was one of their fellow Supreme Mazoku who came through. "Aku?"

"Nefaria is approaching the path between Realms along with three others from Shinkai." he said. "The one that Malus fought before and two others who just recently entered Hell. She will likely be coming through with them shortly, and no doubt with Dabura along as well."

"Do we go or do we stay?" Daikirai asked, glancing toward Neikan. "The three of us working together could take Neafaria without any issue at all, the Shinkai warriors make no difference. We can't be sure Dabura is with them."

"No, we can't, but it's possible." said Neikan. "We need to know what's going on, so we'll wait for them. If Dabura is with them then we will go, if not..."

"We eliminate them." Daikirai finishedd, grinning. "I hope we get to fight, I've been itching to kill some Shinkai scum since this whole thing started." Before either of the other two could speak up again the path once again flared larger and then opened. A moment later Nefaria emerged, followed by Dabura, Goku, Bardock, and Gohan.

"A wecloming comittee? How thoughtful." Dabura said, spying the three Supreme Mazoku who were floating only a few yards away from them. "I must say, I hadn't expected you to be so thoughtful as to come to me all together. I should have just eliminated you the last time, let all four of you be replaced insted of just Yokuatsu."

"Perhaps you should have." agreed Neikan. "But it's too late for that now. Quietus controls Makai now, and you are obsolete."

"Insolent worm." Nefaria growled. "You have no idea what you're doing."

Neikan snorted. "I'm doing what I always do, seizing power and turning things to my advantage. It's how I worked my way through life, building an Empire that spanned the entire Mortal Plane, before my death. It served me well in my first life, I see no reason for it not to do likewise in my second." Neikan shifted his gaze from Nefaria to the three golden haired men with her and Dabura. "So this is what you're reduced to, working with pathetic Shinkai weaklings?"

"I'd watch who you're calling a weaking, if I were you." Bardock said, crossing his arms and frowning. "You may be stronger than Goku or I but with both of us fighting, and against just you, we could still win."

Daikirai laughed. "This mortal should get a job as a comedian." he said. "You wouldn't stand a chance against any of us, even if there were ten of you. We're Supreme Mazoku, three of the strongest beings in all of Makai! You Shinkai ants are nothing compared to us. Hey, Neikan, can I kill them?"

Neikan shrugged. "If you want to." he said.

Daikirai grinned, turned back toward Bardock, and then suddenly lunged at him in a burst of red. Bardock was already waiting for him, hands clenched, and as soon as he saw the Mazoku start his charge he let out a loud cry and burst of power as he pushed his ki up from its supressed level to its maximum in his Super Sai-jin form. Beside him Goku did likewise, the action causing both Dabura and Nefaria to hesitate in their intentions to intervene.

The Supreme Mazoku continued to charge them, however, and was nearly upon them when there was another sudden burst of energy, accompanied by a rush of wind and a flash of golden light. When the light faded it showed the two men with even spikier and stiffer hair and blue lighting flashing around their aruas. But it wasn't the mild appearance change that had brought Daikirai to halt, or that had him and the other three Mazoku staring at them in shock, or caused Dabura to raise an eyebrow as he gazed at them. It was the sudden spike of their powers. Increases that made them stronger than even Nefaria and put them close to Daikirai and Aku, though still no real match for Neikan.

"If you want to fight, then let's go." Bardock said, grinning, as he moved into a fighting stance.

A/N: Annnnnd... that's all folks, until I can get the internet back. Which could be a while. Last time I lost it I was off for about 5 months. Hopefully not so bad this time but... Anyway, see you all when I get back. 


	55. Further Complications

A/N: My apologies for the long delay. I'll save you the long winded explanation and give you the short version: Real Life got fucked up an fucked shit up. As of now, internet access is limited, time to write is limited, and actually uploading something is a pain. So, expect updates to be slow and sporadic for a while. But, on the good side, at least we're back in action~

Chapter Fifty-five - Further Complications

Hotaru sighed as she turned her gaze skyward and let the cool early evening breeze blow over her. It had been a very busy day, one that still wasn't over yet, and it felt good to get a few moments to relax. Sango had used her Terepo to jump everyone right back to the palace, after which Yamcha had left to fill everyone else in on the end of the battle while the rest of them had spoken with the Grand Kai and established a few things.

They'd offered to help in Otherworld if the need arose, all he had to do was let them know their help was needed. They'd also established what they would do with the Demons and Zombies. The Demons would be routed, either chased back through the tear or killed if they refused to go. The Grand Kai was quite clear that they couldn't be left to wander around in the Mortal Plane for various reasons. The Zombies, they'd learned, were something of an unknown issue.

That wasn't to say that the Kais didn't know of them, they just didn't know why they existed. The fact the doors to Otherworld were closed meant those newly dead could not cross over but none of those Cell had killed had revived as a Zombie so that clearly wasn't the cause. At least, not the only one. Zenryou had mentioned something about souls being 'lost' from the check-in stations, but those souls wouldn't account for the number of Zombies roaming around, either.

The Grand Kai's main thought on them was that souls trapped in the Mortal Plane were simply looking for 'somewhere to go' and were thusly taking up residence inside whatever bodies they could find, thus resulting in an improper Resurrection and creating Zombies. Even though the cause was unknown the Grand Kai seemed certain that re-opening the doors, something he'd begin attempting once he was back in Otherworld, would put an end to them. Even if it didn't do so on its own the Kai said he would be able to call back all the souls lost in the Mortal Plane, even those in the reanimated bodies.

The part of the conversation that Hotaru had cared most about, however, had been that which had involved Akemi and her future. The Supreme Kai had confirmed it earlier and the Grand Kai supported that confirmation. Upon Akemi's death she would begin the 'transformation' into a Kai, and not just any Kai. A Supreme Kai. It was a bit mind boggling to accept, though made a little easier by the Grand Kai's assurances that nothing needed be done in the Mortal Plane to prepare her, that she'd get eight hundred years of training during her 'transition' from mortal to Supreme Kai.

"Hopefully all of this is almost over." Yamcha said as he walked up beside her. "I'm getting too old for all of this excitement. I don't think I could go through all the stress again, like I did seven years ago."

"You aren't that old." Hotaru laughed.

"Forty-one." he replied. "Wait ten years until you're forty-one and then tell me it's not old." He sighed, then. "If we're still here in ten years."

"Well, Goku and Bardock are on the case so I don't think we have anything to worry about. And for once it seems like we're not a mile behind the bad guys and trying to play last-minute-catch-up. Those Demons who came here weren't that far ahead of us, not until that one did whatever it was she did. Freeza, Recoome, the Androids and Cell, it seemed like we were always severely outmatched and didn't really have a chance, but this time I already think we'll be ok.

"Even if those Demons were just lackeys they sounded like they were the best of the best, this Quietus guy's version of the Ginyu Force, so we've got a head start for once. It wont come down to some last minute unexpected twist of fate. Freeza, Slug, Recoome, Cooler, Cell, we only survived them because we got lucky at the end and someone transformed and found the power to win. This time I don't think we'll have to rely so much on luck."

"I hope so." said Bulma as she joined them. "And I hope Vegeta's ok. I just have this... really bad feeling that... something is wrong, or that I'll... never see him again."

"It's probably just..."

"Qu-Queen Nova!" Tsunamo called, spotting the Changeling as she walked out of the palace, along with quite a few others. "Hydra reported that your power level..."

"It's a complicated matter." Nova said as she approached him. "And one best not discussed here and now. Contact the ship, let Hydra know that I'm ok if she hasn't noticed it already herself."

"Yes, at once." Tsunamo said, bowing and then turning away and hurrying off.

"This his been one interesting day." Nova said as she watched the general of her military make the requested call. "Tears forming to Otherworld, Zombies, Demon invasions, and I was dead for a little while..."

"Yeah, it's a lot to adjust to." agreed Hotaru. "It's a big universe out there, though, and this is just one galaxy. I'd bet there are stranger things to be found out there, somewhere. We Tanarians are living proof of that, our history records a battle with some sort of pink blob monster and that the monster's wizard creator is the one responsible for our reduced power and false forms."

Nova smiled a little. "Our history is full of odd occurrences as well." she said. "For instance, the Tournament of Skulls gets its name from a giant monster with a skull for a head that one of our ancient Kings fought and defeated, though was himself killed. His daughter knew that there would be a power struggle and so she instituted the first tournament. Still, reading about such events isn't quite the same as living through them."

Bulma laughed. "No, no it's not." she agreed. "I used to think Goku attracted all of the weird things that happened to us, he always seemed to be at the center of them, even if it was me who found him for that first adventure. But now, I guess getting caught up in all of it is just the result of his personality."

"He never could resist a challenge." said Yamcha. "Anyone else would have avoided the Red Ribbon Army, not fought them head on. Same with King Piccolo and Frieza."

"I really must learn about all of your adventures some day." said Nova. "Something tells me they would be most interesting."

"You have no idea." Yamcha replied, shaking his head. "Anyway, this reminiscing is nice but it's not getting things done." He turned to look back toward the palace then and saw Senator Vegeta already talking with Pug, both of them also on communicators. Most of the rest of their group was standing around them. "Looks like they've already started, come on." he said, leading his small group over toward the others.

"So they're contained, then?" the Senator was asking someone on the other end of his communicator. "Alright, try and hold them there, I'll send reinforcements as soon as I can."

"Trouble?" asked Nova.

"In a manner of speaking." replied the Senator. "A group of Sennari Defense Force recruits managed to trap a few Demons inside a store in Saiya City, by way of an anti-burglar barrier field. It wont hold them for long, though, and none of the recruits are strong enough to fight the Demons in question. Just one more thing our groups will have to take care of. I see no reason why the original plan, before Cell resurfaced, can't be used still. Agreed?" He glanced around at everyone and they all nodded in reply.

"Good." he said. "As a reminder we're splitting into six groups. Gainin, Mijima, Piccolo, Raditz, and myself will be leading attack groups, with three of Nova's elites along for support. Piccolo's group is going east, Gainin's west, Raditz's to the north, and Mijima's will go south. Hotaru's group will be her at the head, with Nova, Pug, and Tien as support. The four of you are to evacuate Saiya City, move the survivors here to the palace. Yamcha, I'm going to leave you in charge of palace guard duty with Vadora and the others."

"Alright." Yamcha said, nodding.

Vegeta nodded and then turned to the Changeling Queen. "Nova, you know your people better than we do, you'll have to divide up the forces."

She nodded and called over to Tsunamo and the others. She'd noticed that most of her elites were generally avoiding the palace and palace staff, most of whom were Sai-jin. Not that she could really blame them. Her family, all branches of it, was far more powerful than the average Changeling. Even Tsunamo, her strongest Elite, was only a little over four hundred thousand. The weakest of the them was just barely over a hundred thousand. The average Changeling didn't stack up too well against the average Sai-jin, especially not in this current age where Sai-jin Super Elites were starting to outnumber their first class elites.

"What do you need, Queen Nova?" asked Tsunamo as he and the others joined her.

"We're about to go to work. I had Hydra send you down so we could support the Sai-jins and their other allies in this fight. We're all splitting up into six groups and three of you will each be going with one of five of those groups." she explained to them. She wanted to try and divide up the forces as evenly as possible. Pair the weaker elites with the stronger leaders. Which meant that Tsunamo would be going with the Sai-jin King as he was, as odd as it seemed to her, the weakest team leader present.

Each of the fifteen elites had a rank number determined by their power, with Tsunamo as the strongest at Rank Fifteen. That would be the fastest way to divide up the forces. "We'll divide you by rank. One through three in group one, four through six in group two, and so on." she continued. "Group one will go with the Namek, Piccolo. Group two is with Gainin." she motioned to him. "Group three with his sister Mijima. Group four is with Raditz and group five is with the former Sai-jin King."

"What about you?" Tsunamo asked.

"I'll be fine, I'm going with Hotaru's group and she's the strongest person left on the planet." Nova noted that Tsunamo wasn't very thrilled with that but she knew he wouldn't protest. Not in front of the former Sai-jin King and his greatest allies. "Alright, join up with your leader and move out. Make sure to follow their orders as you would mine." The Changelings all nodded and did as ordered. Less than a minute later the five groups had departed.

"I guess that leaves us." said Hotaru. "Well, let's get a move on, see if we can give the SDF recruits a hand with those Demons before moving on to evacuations." Those with her all nodded and then they, as well, flew off.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about." Yamcha said as he watched them fly off. "None of those Demons are of a level that should give even the Changeling elites any real trouble.

"Yeah, I'm more worried about us than them." said Sango. "You and I will be fine but there's quite a few here, and will be even more once the Queen and the others start bringing in refugees, that are outmatched by some of the Demons."

"I doubt it'll be that much of a..." started Dubibub, but he was cut off when Mango's scouter beeped.

"What is it?" Mango asked, activating the comlink on the scouter.

"Ma'am, Senator Vegeta told me to re-direct this to you, so you could inform those at the Palace." said Mellona. "There have been numerous power failure incidents since all of this started. Apparently, during one of them, Block 512 of the Detention Center shut down. Our newest prisoners were in there and they all managed to escape."

Mango sighed and cursed. "Those underlings of Kuriiza's we captured with the Changeling Queen's help, you mean?"

"Yes ma'am. As well as five Sai-jins captured prior to the start of the Galactic Games. I've got their files here. Torrac, Rycel, Apalla, Rhubar, and Ornja. Apparently they were plotting some sort of disruption of the Sennari prior to capture. The Senator seemed to think they'd be more likely to show up at your location than anywhere else."

"Alright, thanks. I'll inform the others."

XXX

Otherworld, Grand Kai's World

"What do you have in mind?" Mikomi asked.

"Plenty." he replied. "If you don't mind?"

"No, by all means."

He smiled. "Alright then. North Kai, go get your peers if you please. Pikkon, locate the others I mentioned before." The two of them nodded to him, and then departed. As they left the Grand Kai turned his attention back to Mikomi. "One thing I wish to try and do is force open the doors, by brute force if need be. I think you, Kibito, and myself should give it a try at one of the check-in stations."

Mikomi nodded. "That is worth a try. We should start with Lord Yemma's station since his was the first to be affected."

"My thoughts as well." Zenryou agreed. "Hopefully, between the three of us, we can force it open. If not..."

"There are magical methods that can be tried." said Mikomi. "However, even if we do get them open, keeping them there may be a problem if whatever caused them to close is still acting on them."

"Yes, I thought of that too." said Zenryou. "If they do close again there is really nothing we can do about it. Hopefully they don't but, if they do, then hopefully they take a while. If that is the case then we can continue to force them open every so often to at least reduce the strain on the Mortal Plane."

"Yes, a temporary solution is better than none at all." she agreed. She turned then as Pikkon flew back toward them, the others trailing him and the four lower Kais were not far behind them.

"So, what's up?" asked Appla as she landed with the others.

"I'm organizing our counter strike against the Demons." Zenryou explained. "I'm putting each of you in charge of a different 'team' to handle part of the situation. We have a lot of territory to cover so this could take a while, even divided up like this. I'll leave the assembling of fighters from our remaining number up to each of you. Now, as for where you'll be operating, the lower Kais will all remain here.

"North Kai, your group has the north eastern quadrant of my world. East Kai, the south eastern quadrant. South Kai, the south western quadrant. West Kai, the north western quadrant. Sora, your group will stay here to protect those who are too worn out to fight. Appla, Olibu, Pikkon, your teams will be heading into the H.F.I.L. and routing anyone hiding there. Just head straight down and then fan out to cover as much area as you can. We'll keep our senses open for trouble and come to help if we notice any."

"Alright." they all said, nodding.

"Ok then, let's get to work." he said, clapping his hands together. They all nodded again and then turned and headed off to their duties. Zenryou then turned his focus back to the Supreme Kai and Kibito. "And let us head for Yemma's station to see about those doors." he said, before all three of them vanished.

XXX

Otherworld, Yemma's Check-in Station

"I had hoped Janemba's destruction would have corrected this." Zenryou said as he and his companions appeared outside of Yemma's station, not inside it as intended.

"It would appear that the distortions centered around the stations are not related to Janemba." Mikomi said as they started toward the check-in station. "Perhaps what the Demons told the Mortals from Planet Vegeta has more truth to it than I first thought. This could be the work of Quietus. Though as to how he could manage it I am not entirely sure."

"It is troubling if it is." said Zenryou. "No one should be able to affect Otherworld but the designated Supreme Kai in charge of the plane. Quietus is neither a Supreme Kai nor even from Shinkai. For him to intentionally do something such as this implies he has powers he should not possess."

"Indeed." agreed Mikomi. "Though since we never learned the source of his sudden strength increase it is possible. Whatever turned him into what he is now could have bestowed him other changes as well." She came to a stop in both speech and movement as the three of them walked into the check-in station. Despite the lack of new souls to be judged the room was a bustle of activity all the same. Though, Zenryou noted, it was more organized than when he had stopped in before.

He also noted that not everyone rushing about was involved in the standard work of the station. Quite a few were acting as nurses to other Oni who were sitting along one wall and bandaged. Others were rushing about carrying boxes, books, papers, stones, and crystals of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. Most notable of all, however, was the absence of Yemma himself. The massive man was not behind his desk.

"Did the Demons attack here as well?" Kibito asked, glancing around.

"Grand Kai!" a voice called from their left. The three looked and saw a blue skinned and one horned Oni in a suit and tie and wearing glasses rushing toward them. "Oh, perfect timing, I was just going to head out to your world to get you."

"What's the matter? Where is Yemma?"

"Down below having a few injuries tended to." replied the Oni. "Nothing serious, mind. Just a few cuts and a broken finger. A handful the dead from Hell decided to pay us a visit, but Lord Yemma dealt with them with little trouble. Despite the chaos and distortions this station is still his domain."

Zenryou smiled a little and nodded at that. All of those of station, Yemma and the other judges, the lower Kais, himself, Mikomi, and her fellow Supreme Kais when they were still around, had more advantage in their own domain than elsewhere. He could, when his link to Otherworld wasn't affected, do more in the Mortal Plane than he could in Otherworld, for instance. The lower Kais had the most power in their galaxy of the Mortal Plane, and comparable power on their own small planets. Mikomi was at her strongest in the Kai Plane. So Yemma was at his best here in his station. It had been quite foolish indeed for them to attack him here.

"So what was it you wanted me for, then?" he asked.

"It's about the doors to the Mortal Plane." the Oni said. "Before they just seemed to be jammed or something, but now..."

"Show us." said Mikomi, concerned. The Oni glanced at her, nodded, and then lead the three of them toward a side door that lead to a spiraling staircase. There was no wall or railing on either side of the stairs, just empty blackness as far as they could see. Even the door they had just come through seemed to just be floating in this void. The four of them made their way down past several landings and doors that appeared linked to nothing before finally coming to a stop, though the stairs continued on deeper still.

The Oni pushed open the wooden door on the landing and the four of them stepped through into a large and spacious room. Stone floors, stone walls, stone ceiling, and no visible source of light though it was as bright as day. The room was fifty feet wide by fifty feet long by two hundred feet tall and the wall opposite them was taken up entirely by a pair of large golden doors. Neither Mikomi or Zenryou had ever seen the doors closed before, it was an odd and unsettling sight. Even more unsettling, however, was the glowing and pulsing red and black light that now floated directly in front of them.

At the center of the light was a massive emblem, twenty feet across and twenty feet tall. An emblem that Mikomi recognized quite well. The winged and horned skull symbol of Quietus. As she approached the doors she could feel the powerful evil that radiated from the magic barrier. This barrier and its symbol, more than anything else that had yet happened this day, distressed her. The invasion was unpleasant enough, the meaning and repercussions of this were... She shuddered at the thought.

"I would say this cements matters." she said softly. "Quietus is indeed responsible for the closing of the doors." She reached a hand out and toward the door but couldn't get her hand any closer than seven feet from the edge of the barrier. "As I thought. The concentration of evil is too strong for us to even approach it."

"Which means we can't even attempt to force them open." said Zenryou, frowning. "No doubt his reason for placing the barrier in the first place. He must have anticipated we would attempt to force them open, and assumed we could muster the power to do so."

"Or just didn't want to risk it either way." Mikomi mused, nodding. "He is being for more careful and cautious this time."

"He learned from his mistakes." agreed Zenryou. "A rare thing with most people. Something I'd be willing praise in most anyone else." Zenryou sighed and frowned more. "I think it is safe to say we will be of no help here. We may as well return to my world and join the others in routing our invaders."

"Hmm, I wonder..." Mikomi mused softly.

"What is it?" asked Kibito.

"I am wondering if, perhaps, the Mortals may be able to force the door open. The three Sai-jins that went into Hell ahead of Goku and Bardock are quite powerful, and had no problems entering Hell."

"It could be worth a try." Zenryou said slowly. "Though I don't know how much luck they would have. I was uncertain even of our chances."

"What about the Mortals still on Planet Vegeta?" asked Kibito. "The Tanarian Queen is nearly as powerful as Zenryou."

"And the strongest, by far, of those still there." said the Grand Kai. "I doubt if she could force the doors open herself. Or even with all the rest her allies still in the Mortal Plane helping her." Zenryou had walked up beside Mikomi and was pressing against the barrier himself, his hand going about a foot further in than Mikomi's had. "Beyond that, there is more than the doors to get past." he said after a moment. "I thought I recognized this field."

"Recognized it?" asked Mikomi, glancing over and up at him.

Zenryou nodded. "The evil energy laced within gives it a different feeling but I am certain this is a Star Barrier. Or rather, a variation of one."

Mikomi blinked and turned her gaze back to the barrier. She focused on the energy of the field for a moment and then felt it, too. There was definitely a Star Barrier feeling to it, though not quite like what she knew. Star Barriers were a Kai power, though. This, clearly, was not. Perhaps the Mazoku had their own version of such things, and this was Quetius's take on one of those. Either way, they wouldn't be getting through here. She doubted even she, Bardock, and Goku working together could penetrate the barrier.

Star Barriers were the most powerful forms of seals that could be created. They required minimal effort and magic but their securing power was exceptional. The actual strength of the barrier created varied, dependant upon the magical ability of the creator, the ki level of the creator, and what sort of thing was being blocked. In this case it was just a door, thus a simple one-sided barrier was effective, and thus its power more concentrated.

She was unsure of Quietus's magical expertise, but going just by his power and the nature of the barrier... It would likely take a strength three to four times greater than her own to break it. And that, only if it was bound to a single person. Star Barriers held more firmly against combined attacks than singular ones, one of their greatest assets for defensive usage. No, it looked like they wouldn't be getting through here until Quietus was dead. Only then would the Star Barrier fail and disperse.


	56. The Realm of Makai

Chapter Fifty-six - The Realm of Makai

"What's the matter?" Bardock asked, smirking. "I thought we were going to fight?"

"How...?" wondered Neikan, staring at the two Shinkai fighters. "That simply isn't possible. No mortal, especially not a living one, is capable of that sort of power."

"You really should do more research before you try attacking someone." Gohan said, from behind his father and grandfather.

Daikirai snorted. "I say it's a trick." he said. "These two aren't as strong as they seem, they're just making themselves seem stronger somehow."

"Well then, why don't you try and prove it?" asked Goku.

Daikirai frowned, snorted again, and then lunged in at the two Sai-jins. The two were ready for him, however, and both easily dodged around to either side of him. As they did Bardock lashed out with a kick for his head while Goku aimed a kick toward his stomach. The Mazoku's eyes widened as he moved to block the attacks. His right arm shot up and stopped Bardock's kick but his left was too slow and Goku's heel slammed into his stomach with a resounding crack that drove him back and doubled him over. The two Sai-jins came to a stop then, once again several feet away from their opponent.

"Still think it's a trick?" Bardock asked.

Daikirai growled as he held a hand to his stomach and scowled at them. "It must be that, then." he said, frowning. "That red eyed green thing that Lord Quietus sensed in Shinkai."

"Red eyed green thing?" Goku asked, looking toward Bardock.

His father shrugged. "Beats me." he said. "My kick for his head missed so he must have had this brain damage already."

Daikirai blinked and then growled again, barring his teeth and a pair of inch long fangs as he did. "Wretched piece of trash!" he cried, lunging in toward the Sai-jin. Nearing he launched a powerful punch for Bardock's head but the instant before it connected the Sai-jin vanished, reappeared above him, and slammed his foot down into the back of his head. The blow sent the Mazoku careening away for several hundred feet before he regained control and righted himself again, still growling.

"These two are..." Nefaria began as she watched Daikirai charge in again, while the two Sai-jins shot down to meet him. "They're stronger than I am... how is that possible?"

"Dad and Grandpa have always been amazing." said Gohan, shaking his head. "I thought I had improved a lot in the last seven years but... dad's power at Super Saiya-jin is almost equal to mine at the second level. I've never seen either of them improve so much so fast before."

Nefaria was not the only one shocked by the power of the two Sai-jins. Neikan and Aku were watching the on going fight, with Bardock and Goku controlling the encounter, with scowls on their faces. Neikan shifted his gaze from the two Sai-jins and toward Dabura, Nefaria, and Gohan. Were these the best fighters in Shinkai or were there more on the other side with power like this? He figured there had to be more, they wouldn't leave the realm unprotected...

"Aku." he began, shifting his gaze back to the fight. "Head up to the Mazoku Plane and inform Quietus about this."

"Right." Aku replied slowly as he turned. It took a moment for him to tear his eyes away from the battle and then he shot off in a burst of red light.

Dabura frowned as he watched him leave but before he could act to stop him Neikan unleashed a powerful blast of energy toward the two Sai-jins. The attack drew his focus and forced him into action to deflect it. The two mortals were needed to stop Quietus and the attack Neikan had unleashed, a large spinning ball of ki covered in spikes, would have easily shredded them into little bits.

He reached the attack in an instant, while it was still several feet from its intended targets, and easily deflected it away with a simple ki blast.

"Whoa." Goku said, blinking as he looked at Dabura. He'd felt his power spike up considerably for a moment. Most of the time it felt like he was around his and Bardock's level, but just then he was nearly twice their power.

"I think this has gone on long enough." Dabura said, turning his focus toward Daikirai, who had now moved back away from the two Sai-jins.

The Mazoku scowled and then vanished, reappearing beside Neikan. "This is a waste of time." he said. "We could kill these mortals easily enough on their own, but with Dabura in the way..."

"Agreed." said Neikan, frowning as well. "Let's go." And, with that, both of them vanished.

"You're just going to let them run away?" asked Nefaria.

"As much as I am displeased with them it would be... unwise to remove them at present." said Dabura. "The balance is already in enough trouble because of the three missing Supreme Kais. You've seen the damage that has built up in Shinkai. I shudder to think what could happen to the Realms if Makai were to follow suit."

Nefaria frowned. "So there's no choice, then, but to tolerate their defection?"

"For now." said Dabura. "Once this mess is settled, however... Replacing them one at a time should be fine. Anyway, enough of this, we have a long journey ahead of us. The Dead Zone can not be exited through any means other than the path up to Purgatory and it is a long flight away."

The others all nodded and so the group set off once more. "This place is so weird." Goku said, glancing around him. "It looks like nothing but an empty void..."

"This is the Plane known as the Dead Zone." said Nefaria. "It could be compared to Shinkai's Plane of Hell. Only..."

"Only what?" asked Bardock.

"Shinkai and Makai are polar opposites." Nefaria said. "And that is reflected in the Planes, and in who is rewarded upon death."

Goku and Bardock furrowed their brows, obviously both confused as to what the woman meant, but Gohan cast a glance around at the empty void and frowned. "This is where the good people of Makai end up?" he asked.

"Good is a bit light of a term to use." said Nefaria. "This is where the... "best" of Makai spend eternity. Those who, in Shinkai, would be allowed to remain on the Grand Kai's world would, instead, find themselves here if they had lived in Makai."

"Well, that sucks." said Bardock.

Dabura chuckled. "An odd sentiment, coming from a Sai-jin." he said. "I wouldn't expect to find many of your people on the Grand Kai's world."

"No, I suppose not." Bardock agreed. "Goku, myself, and my mate are the only Sai-jins currently there out of over a hundred thousand people."

"What do you mean, you and Goku?" asked Nefaria, her white eyes, looking so much like spotlights in pools of darkness, drifting to her left to gaze at him. "The two of you are alive..."

"Oh, we weren't alive a few hours ago." explained Goku. "We chased after someone through one of the tears and it revived us. We were dead before that for about seven years."

"So, what's the rest of ths Realm like?" asked Gohan. "If this is where the best go, then what about the bad guys? The Friezas, Slugs, and Cells of Makai?"

"While I don't know who two of them are, they would all likely be on the Grand Mazoku's world, in Limbo." said Nefaria.

"Limbo?"

Nefaria nodded. "The Planes here in Makai serve a similar purpose as those of Shinkai but, with the exception of the Mortal Plane, they are not the same. So each plane here bears a name different than those of Shinkai."

"So instead of Hell you have the Dead Zone, and instead of Otherworld you have Limbo?" asked Bardock.

"Exactly. In place of the H.F.I.L. is Purgatory and in place of Heaven is Naraka. Then there is our plane, of course. The Mazoku Plane. And our final destination if we are to confront Quietus."

Gohan pursed his lips for a moment as something Nefaria had just said clicked in his mind. "What did you mean that you don't know two of them?" asked Gohan. "Does that mean you've met one of them before?"

Nefaria smiled. "I did not meet him, but I heard tell of the being named Cell. A warrior of Shinkai supposedly close to the Grand Mazoku in power. I had doubts as to his power, though I had to admit his coming was impressive. He is the only Mortal I have ever heard of crossing the barrier between planes on their own. It is supposed to be impossible, only those possessed of Kai or Mazoku magic should be able to cross it without being torn apart."

"Well, Cell can regenerate from just a single, well, cell." said Bardock. "Made him damn hard to kill in the first place."

"What race is he?" asked Dabura. "I've never heard of regeneration that powerful."

"He's not from any race." said Gohan. "He was created in another timeline by a scientist form Earth named Dr. Gero. He's got the DNA of a number of races in him. Human, Sai-jin, Changeling, and Namekian."

"He got some Tanarian in him, too, after taking some DNA from Sakura." said Bardock.

"A genetically engineered being?" Dabura mused. "Interesting. I don't know anything about the Human or Changeling races, though being part Sai-jin, Tanarian, and Namekian I can see how he became so powerful."

"You know about the Tanarians and Namekians, too?" asked Goku.

Dabura grinned. "I know much about the Realms. More, I am sure, than my Shinkai counterparts do."

"Alright, so what can you tell us about this Quietus guy?" asked Bardock. "From what I understand you're the leader of the Mazoku, so you should be the strongest, right? So then, how is he stronger than you?"

"Yes, that's right." Dabura said. "Our afterlife hierarchy is organized like that of Shinkai. At the lowest positions are the Overseers of each world, our version of a Guardian. Above them are the Mazoku. Of us the four lower Mazoku are the weakest, then the Grand Mazoku, the Supreme Mazoku, and then finally myself, the Mazoku King. Below the Mazoku are the Demons who function for us like the Oni of Shinkai function for the Kais. The powers of the different groups are all regulated by each group's own nature, function, and position.

"While the powers of the Overseers vary greatly from world to world, depending entirely upon the power of the person who takes the post, those of the other groups do not. Demons are, unlike the rest of the hierarchy, born in Limbo. Purely magical beings who, more or less, pop into existence as needed. Within the Demons there are three classes. Cleric, Controller, and Judge. Clerics are the weakest, Controllers are mid range as they keep watch over Purgatory, and then the sixteen Judges are the strongest of the Demons, as they are the strongest of the Oni in Shinkai.

"No Demon, be it Cleric, Controller, or Judge, can ever match the power of a Lower Mazoku. Likewise, the Lower Mazoku can not match the power of the Grand Mazoku, who can not match a Supreme Mazoku, who can not match the power of the Mazoku King. This is because the magic that creates us, that turns us from the mortals we once were into the rulers of the realm, specifically places us within a set range of power. The start power varies, as does the maximum obtainable power, but all start above the highest possible level of the rank below, and stop before the lowest possible level of the rank above.

"Quietus was no different for the majority of his life. He was a Controller Demon, one of those who kept the inhabitants of Purgatory in line. A demanding job as said inhabitants are constantly arranging a coup of some sort to try and overthrow we Mazoku. Most mortals do not like being ruled by beings of evil, or being punished for doing good things in their lives. For nearly a million years Quietus was no different than his brethren, though admittedly one of the strongest. Even so he would not have lasted long in a fight against any Judge."

"So what changed?" asked Gohan.

"About seven thousand years ago there was an... incident. A powerful group of wizards, fifty of them in all, had banded together in the Mortal Plane. These were wizards of good who had recently restored peace to about half of their galaxy, defeating the powerful tyrant that had once ruled them. Several of them had power enough to see beyond the Mortal Plane, to see that we Mazoku ruled the afterlife, and as is common with Mortals, they considered us their enemy. The root of their former issues. Only by removing us would they have true and lasting peace.

"Combining their magic they were unexpectedly able to transport themselves to the Mazoku plane where they challenged us to battle. Working together against Daikirai, their magic proved to be quite formidable, actually causing him some noticeable difficulty. But he started picking them off, one at a time, and as more of them fell it became easier, until at last all of them were dead. Due to their deeds and purity all fifty of them were then sent here, to the Dead Zone, for all eternity.

"But it was not the last we would hear from them. Five thousand years later we began to notice distortions and disturbances in Purgatory, emanating from within the Dead Zone. We were not sure what the issue might be at first. But then three of the wizards who had challenged us appeared in Purgatory, and the distortions and disturbances grew stronger. I realized, then, that our wizard friends were trying to stir up trouble for us. I wasn't sure how they were doing it, all magic and most of a person's power is suppressed down here, but they were certainly the source.

"I didn't consider it too great a threat, however. The suppressive nature of the Dead Zone had surely weakened them, despite their apparent ability to use their magic. So instead of going down myself, or sending any of the other Mazoku, I dispatched a contingent of a hundred Demons to put an end to the problem. Quietus was part of the force that went down as I sent the hundred strongest Demons alive at the time.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I did witness some of it. I was watching from my palace in the Mazoku Plane, mostly out of curiosity, as I wanted to see how the wizards were using their magic. I'm still not entirely sure how they were doing it, they'd apparently found some means of tapping into some external source of power. Anyway, during the ensuing battle between the two sides Quietus eventually found himself surrounded by about a dozen of the wizards. Two things then happened at the same time. They all tried to kill him with their magic and he tried to escape with his.

"Somehow the two magics interacted and mixed producing some unknown result. Quietus vanished without a trace and I assumed he was dead. The wizards were stopped by the remaining Demon forces, the distortions and disturbances ended, and all returned to normal. For a few days, at least. And then new distortions began, in all of the planes and not just Purgatory. Over the next several days they built stronger and stronger, several of them completely destroying planets in the Mortal Plane.

"Then, as quickly as they started, they all stopped, and Quietus appeared again. Not in the Dead Zone where he had vanished, but in the Mazoku Plane itself. I sensed his arrival, it was impossible to miss as his power rivaled that of the Supreme Mazoku. He was holding back, something I didn't find out until later, but it got my attention. I have no idea what happened to him to cause the increase in his power, or to grant him the new magical abilities he has that exceed his station as a Controller Demon.

"It could have been the combination of crossing magics, the unknown nature and source of the magic being used by those wizards, or something that happened after he vanished. Whatever the cause it changed him on a fundamental level. Not only did he have new strength and new powers but a new look as well. I didn't even recognize him as a Demon when he first returned. It wasn't until after our fight started, and we'd exchanged a few words, that I realized who and what he was."

"So how did you stop him before?" asked Goku. "We overheard some information but no one ever gave us the full story."

"There's not much to tell." said Dabura. "I was losing my fight, I knew I wouldn't win, so I retreated from the battle. I traveled to Shinkai to enlist the aid of the two remaining Supreme Kais in stopping him and he followed after me, intent both on capturing me and in gaining control over Shinkai as he had already done in Makai. The three of us fought him but even together we were not strong enough to beat him.

"So we joined our powers in a different way. We combined our magics to create a Blood Crystal. A crystal prison forged out of the blood, bone, and soul of one of the Supreme Kais. The magic to create the crystal was of Mazoku origin, and my contribution to the process. The pure nature of the Suprme Kai created a pure crystal, the two energies off-setting each other so that Quietus would be unable to escape from within. Not on his own, at least, and none of us forsaw anyone helping him escape."

Dabura shook his head. "I never expected such organization or effort to restore him. Especially not with Shinkai involvement. I still don't understand what brought it about."

"Raven." said Bardock, causing both Dabura and Nefaria to glance back at him. "She's someone we've been dealing with for a while, her and her mate. Working from behind the scenes manipulating the course of the universe for some purpose. Apparently they gave their soldiers orders to follow even after death. Don't know why, but they apparently wanted Quietus set free. It's possible they just want the army of Demons he's created." Bardock shrugged, then. "No idea for sure, but it doesn't really matter. No matter what their goal is there's nothing we can do about them until they surface."

XXX

Makai, Limbo, The Grand Mazoku's World

Akuhei, Malus, and Paine seemed to suddenly burst into existence only a few dozen yards from Malchio's sprawling palace. The Grand Mazoku's world was much like that of the Grand Kai's in nature, but Malchio's home was nothing like Zenryou's. While the Grand Kai had an ornate and sizeable mansion the Grand Mazoku had a massive palace of black stone, dotted with hundreds of menacing stone gargoyles with glowing red eyes, that could easily have held Zenryou's mansion five times over, and still had room to spare.

The crowd that 'lived' on the planet was likewise much the same as those on the Grand Kai's world, though with their own distinct differences. Those who trained in Otherworld typically got along with each other, hung out and joked, and largely enjoyed each other's company. The surly crowd found here, however, constantly broke into all out brawls at the drop of a hat, just because someone was having a bad day.

Each and every Mortal present had been some form of powerful ruler in their life, many of just a world, several of multiple worlds, a few who had ruled an entire galaxy, and one who had ruled the entire universe. It was a constant clash of prides and egos, an everlasting contest to prove who among them was truly the most powerful in Makai, the greatest of them all. But all of them, at the sight of the three Demons, parted aside quickly to give them room. None were willing to risk upsetting one of these three, three beings with more power than the Grand Mazoku himself.

This was a fact that didn't go unnoticed by them, and forced a snort of contempt from Paine. Twenty four hours ago the three of them would have been treated like vermin by those training on the Grand Mazoku's world, due to not being as strong as them. She and Malus had been Clerics, she'd been literally fifty times weaker than Akuhei who, himself, had been a weak Controller.

Then he had been around twenty-one times weaker than the strongest Judge who in turn was about eight times weaker than the strongest Mazoku. There the gap in power grew massively before the next rank. Malchio, the Grand Mazoku, was over ten thousand times stronger than any of the Lower Mazoku. Now that her own power had been boosted by Quietus she had enough of a power advantage over the Grand Mazoku to beat him in a single blow. Literally over a hundred million times stronger now than the day before.

She shifted the weight of the girl slung over her shoulder as she made her way up the stairs into the palace. "Come on, let's be quick about this." she said. "No idea when these two could wake up again."

Akuhei squealed with laughter. "You're not worried, are you?" he asked.

"We're not in Hell now." she replied. "With as strong as these two are they could actually cause trouble for us, and kill the Grand Mazoku. Would you like to be the one to explain to one of the Supreme Mazoku, or Lord Quietus, how we let the Grand Mazoku get killed?"

"She has a point." rumbled Malus as they reached the top of the stairs and threw open the large wooden doors. Walking in they found themselves in a large and ornate marble chamber. There were numerous halls branching off to either side but the three of them ignored those and quickly moved to the large golden doors at the opposite end. Malus reached up and knocked as he reached the door. A second later they swung inward to reveal another ornate marble room, though only about a quarter the size of the last.

"What is it?" asked a bored sounding short man sitting in a high backed golden chair about twenty feet from the door. The man was Malchio, the Grand Mazoku, and he was only about three foot tall, had snow white skin, no hair or nose, and large pointed ears. "Has the... what is it you have?" he inquired, suddenly curious as Akuhei tossed the man he'd been carrying onto the floor.

"Mortals." replied Malus. "From Shinkai. Living Mortals nearly as strong as us."

"Living... what?" Malchio asked, getting to his feet. "How do you have living Shinkai mortals? And what's this about being as strong as you?"

"Malus speaks the truth." said Paine, unceremoniously dumping the girl she'd been carrying onto the floor at her feet. "These two suddenly arrived in Hell. They were apparently looking for Nefaria and Dabura."

"And knew about Lord Quietus." added Akuhei.

Paine nodded and continued. "We only won because we were in Hell. These two, and a third who came with them, are all comparable to our own power."

"Nefaria interrupted my fight..." Malus said, gesturing to his injured arm. "Or we'd have all three."

"Living mortals stronger than I?" Malchio asked, walking up to the two unconscious individuals and kneeling down beside them. "They don't appear to be that strong now."

"They can change." said Paine. "Golden hair and blue-green eyes." Malchio pursed his lips as he placed a hand on each of their heads for a moment. Then he closed his eyes as his hands glowed blue. The tree Demons stood watching intently.

"Hmm? What is this...?" he wondered. Malchio was feeling out the depths of their powers, seeing for himself just how strong the two fighters were. His ability wasn't quite as useful as that of Ciferlu, the Demon who'd gone with Angel to attack the Mortal Plane of Makai, as it required contact with the person, but it was better than even Dabura's similar ability. Malchio could actually tell how strong a person was, Dabura could only feel if a person was holding back a little, some, or a lot of their power.

"Incredible..." he said as the glowing ceased. "These two truly are stronger than I, and the weaker one is nearly as powerful as Malus. What of the third? What was his power like?"

"Weaker than these two, but not by much." said Malus. "It'd be a fairly even fight between any two of them, though the one with the tall hair would have the clear edge against the one I fought."

Malchio nodded as he gazed at the two mortals. "I would say it is a safe bet that Shinkai has fully repelled the invasion." he said at last. "Three Mortals of this level... likely the only ones but still enough to deal with our forces. How they are so powerful while alive, though, I do not know. Maybe... it has something to do with that odd feeling I got from the tall haired one?"

He put his hand back onto Vegeta's head, closed his eyes again, and focused. Once more his hand glowed, brighter and brighter it went, as he felt around through the man's energy looking for the oddity in it that he could feel pulling at him. "What's this? No Spirit Barrier? Well now, this is interesting. Hmmm. I could use this, I think. Yes. I can feel it in him, I can use this. This should prove most... entertaining... indeed." he said, grinning. He then placed his hands over either of Vegeta's temples and the glow shifted to dark purple.

The three Demons shifted uneasily as they watched on in interest. They knew what he was doing, he was using Dark Awakening on the Mortal, a power capable of transforming Mortals into Demons and enslaving them to his will. It would also bring them up to their full potential of power, and as the three of them knew how much power this Mortal had on his own they were wary of how much more Malchio's technique might induce, and whether or not the Grand Mazoku would be able to control him.

XXX

Unknown location

There was nothing but infinite everlasting nothingness to be seen. There was no light or darkness, no sight or sound, nor warmth or coldness. The empty void was neither white nor black, neither red nor blue, nor green or yellow. There was simply no color of any description. There was just infinite nothing. Even he didn't seem to exist, not truly. He had no form, no body. No eyes to see with, no ears to hear with, and he thought that, perhaps, that was why there was nothing to see or hear, because he could neither see nor hear.

But as time slowly trudged onward he deduced that this was wrong. Though he had no mind, he could think, for he was doing so. Though he had no body, he could move, as it seemed he was doing so. Though he had no nerves, he could feel, as he could feel the beat of his heart in his non-existent chest. Thus, even though he had no eyes or ears he could see and he could hear. This place just lacked anything, lacked everything.

He wasn't sure how long this infinite nothing lasted. He drifted through it aimlessly, neither happy or sad, carefree or concerned. He just was. He knew who he was, vaguely. Knew what he was, vaguely. But neither issue concerned him. They were of no real importance. What did it matter who or what he was, so long as he was? But as time rolled onward, a minute or a year he did not know, something began to disturb his existence.

It started faintly, a light brushing against his non-existent body. A feeling something like that of a faint breeze, though neither warm or cold. It was enough to disturb his solitary drifting and wondering, empty, thoughts. Enough to draw him from the haze of half existence, half care, that he had been in, and introduce into him an annoyance. What dared to bother him and his semi-existence? He reached out for it, or felt that he did though he had no body to reach with, but could find nothing at first.

The 'wind' had been momentary, fleeting, and was gone before he'd started his search. Maybe it had never been? Had it just been part of his mind's aimless wanderings? No, it was back again. Stronger, longer lasting, and he reached out again. This time he grasped it. What he held onto it with he did not know, what it was he held he did not know, but he could feel coursing through it many things he did know.

There was anger and hate, pure unbridled rage, and power. There was something regal and imposing, commanding, in it as well. And as he held on to this unknown thing, he found himself again, for it was himself that he had grabbed hold of. His mind cleared, his memories crystallized, his body became real, and the nothingness around him gave way to something. Everything flowed through him in an instant, his entire life re-playing itself before his eyes.

Certain moments stood out in sharp contrast to the rest. His defeat at the hands of Nappa, the loss of his tail against Pong. The fight with Frieza and his inability to do anything. The fact that a child had surpassed his powers, that a low class fighter had grown to be stronger than him, that an even lower class fighter had gone even further beyond him. That he had become a Super Sai-jin before his eyes and defeated Frieza.

Then, even after he'd become a Super Sai-jin himself, still more defeats. The Android 19 stealing his power, forcing them to retreat. Super 13 not budging under his blows, Cell being even stronger than that after just a single transformation. Then the Cell Games and his discovery of just how much power Kakkarotto and his father had gained in a single trip into the Room of Spirit and Time. More than he had in two.

Always, always he had been surpassed by the others. He, the Sai-jin Prince, now the Sai-jin King, playing second string, and worse, to Kakkarotto. But he reached the second level as well, gained in power decently since the Cell Games, and found himself stronger than Gohan. The strongest Sai-jin at last. Or so he'd thought. But no, it was not to be. Kakkarotto had surpassed him once more, and by far more than ever before. Kakkarotto's power just at the first level nearly matched his own at the second.

If they were to fight, he at the second level and Kakkarotto at the first, he would have the edge but it would not be an easy fight. And Kakkarotto's power at the second! It was more than double his own! Kakkarotto had found what he could not, a means to draw out further power from the second form, to enhance it as they had done the first. Something he still had not fully achieved in seven years, despite the fact that Kakkarotto had done so in just a single year!

Somehow, everything revolved around Kakkarotto. Every unjust thing, every wrong ever done to him. Kakkarotto embodied them all. Nappa, Pong, Frieza, 19, Super 13, Cell, even Bulma's death, which he'd shunted from his mind the moment he'd learned of it. Somehow all of it traced to Kakkarotto. Beat him and everything would be resolved, all problems fixed, all failures undone. But what hope was there of that?

"You have the power." whispered a voice. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, he'd never heard it before. It seemed to come from the very air around him as the visions of his life faded away. "You have the power to reclaim your pride and honor."

"What power do I have!" he called out to the voice in anger, hands clenched into fists, entire body shaking. "I, the Sai-jin King who has been surpassed at every turn by the weakest Sai-jin born in known history!"

"Great power sleeps within you, untapped. I can call it forth. Then you can defeat the one who has dishonored you. Defeat him with your own power and prove to everyone that you are the best..."


	57. Gloom and Doom

A/N: Unfortunately, Jeff, there will be no more chances for Goku or Bardock's powers to be scouted for the remainder of the saga.

Also, as has been pointed out, yes the Tanarian translator is down. It was lost when Geocities was, and I have no back-up copies of it (that I know of) so... it's likely gone for good.

Chapter Fifty-seven - Gloom and Doom

Hotaru let out a long sigh as she landed, along with Pug, Nova, and Tien, near the SDF recruits who had trapped the Demons. Just the flight here from the palace had winded her greatly. She was beyond exhausted at this point. Her legs felt like jell-o beneath her and she was honestly surprised she was still on her feet. She'd felt stronger back at the palace, but it felt as though all of that strength had been sapped in the flight. She could only assume it was an after effect of using the Genkai Toppa.

"I'm going to have to hang back." she said, shaking her head. "I don't have the power to deal with these Demons, I can sense it. Definitely not without transforming, anyway, and I don't think I've got the strength for that, either."

"That's fine." said Tien. "We can handle this." He turned his gaze from her and toward the SDF Recruit who was approaching them. She was short, maybe three foot even, had purple eyes, pale blue skin, and green hair down to her to her waist. She was very lightly built, skinny arms and legs, and a skinny neck, which made the black and brown armor she wore seem overly large. "You in charge?" he asked her. He noticed her eyes kept flicking toward Nova.

"More or less." she replied in a high silky voice. "I'm Lotus. I'm still a trainee, but I'm the strongest member of the SDF for about two miles."

"Quick thinking, locking them in there." said Pug, tossing a nod toward the store where his scouter said seven powers were located. They were moving around the store, apparently at random, and fluctuating slightly. Clearly agitated as they looked for a means of escape.

"Thank-you, sir." she said, nodding to him. "I can't take credit for it, though. It was... was Dew's idea. She... lured them inside and... and then activated the barrier..."

"While still inside?" asked Nova, turning her own gaze toward the storefront now.

"Yes." the small woman replied quietly. "She... said she would try to hide... but we've not had contact with her in forty minutes."

"Anything?" Hotaru asked Pug. Her senses couldn't find anyone but the seven Demons, but that didn't mean there wasn't a low power somewhere in there that she couldn't pick up.

Pug frowned. "I'm not sure." he said. "I'm only reading the seven Demons, powers ranging from 96,215 to 99,336, but I keep picking up something else and losing it again almost at once. It could be interference from the barrier field. Or the level could be so low, even now that I have the sensitivity set to maximum and the focus range to the tightest setting, that I can't get a solid fix."

"Either way, it sounds like the recruit's still alive in there." said Tien. "So let's try and keep her that way."

"Right." agreed Pug and Nova as the three of them set off for the building. A moment later they'd reached the front display window, the glass of which was laying in shards on the sidewalk.

"Should we break through?" asked Nova, eying up the red light of the barrier field.

"I think we'll have to." said Pug. "This field's just a standard anti-burglar field, only good up to about a hundred thousand. It'll be easy enough for us to punch through it. The trick will be doing so without causing the entire field to fail. We want to get in, not let the Demons out."

"I have an idea." Tien said, raising both arms and pointing his index fingers at the barrier in two separate places. There was a flash of gold and then twin beams of energy lanced out, impacting the barrier at different points. Pug could tell, by the ripple effect in the barrier field, that the attacks were of different levels. Something he found impressive. Modulating the power output of two simultaneous attacks was no simple matter. He also thought he understood what the Human was attempting to do.

The weaker ripples would hit, but not cancel out, the stronger ones, reducing the back wash of energy through the barrier while still allowing it to breech. Sure enough, a moment later, there was crack and flash as part of the barrier snapped and a hole appeared. Even as it formed it began to close and the three of them moved quickly, passing through the opening in the half second it was there.

The three of them then made their way slowly through the first floor of the building, heading toward the stairs. Tien could sense the seven Demons gathered above them, now stationary, and was unsure as to what they were doing. Pug's scouter couldn't get a signal in or out through the barrier, and so was useless inside the store, and Nova couldn't sense powers, so the two of them were relying on the Human's direction to find their targets.

Now that he was inside the barrier Tien thought he could sense an eighth power. It was incredibly weak, so much so that he wasn't entirely sure it was there. And it was so very near the other seven that he couldn't figure out how it hadn't been found yet. It was more for the sake of that power, likely the brave recruit, Dew, mentioned by Lotus outside, that he was being cautious. The power was so small he couldn't pin point it beyond being within ten feet of the other powers, which meant any attempted surprise attack could hit the owner of that power as well.

"Still not moving?" Pug asked as they began the climb up the stairs.

Tien shook his head. "No. They've not moved an inch. I can't figure it out, what are they doing?"

"Maybe they've got the SDF Recruit trapped?" suggested Nova.

"Maybe..." As they neared the fourth floor landing Tien noticed a green and purple glow coming from under the door. "Alright, they're definitely up to something. We'll have to be quick, but careful." Pug and Nova nodded as the Human took hold of the door handle and twisted, pulling it open. All three came to a shocked halt then at what they saw. The Demons had cleared out part of the floor and stood in a circle facing each other, hands together as though praying, and were chanting softly.

In the middle of the circle they formed, floating a few feet off the ground with her head back, and eyes closed, was what could have only been the SDF Recruit who'd managed to lock the Demons in the building. The green light was coming from her, the purple light from the Demons, and wisps of darkness where swirling up from the ground and wrapping around them all. As they watched the darkness grew thicker and thicker and, after a few seconds, had them all hidden from view.

"It's... some sort of magic." said Nova. "I don't think this is anything good."

"Nor do I." agreed Tien. "Let's see if we can dis..." he trailed off as the darkness vanished in a loud crack and a bright flash of red. When the light faded the seven Demons and SDF Recruit were gone. In their place stood a single being. Five foot tall with blood red skin, solid yellow eyes, spiky white hair, lizard like tail, the horns of a goat, and a bat like face. Blue energy crackled around her body as she turned to face the three of them.

"Company." she said in a sultry voice, grinning. "How nice. Have you come to let me kill you?" She ran a tongue over her purple lips and smiled more. "The sweet taste of death, how I love it." Suddenly her eyes began to glow and Tien felt her power climbing rapidly.

XXX

Shinkai, The H.F.I.L.

"That's another group gone." said Appla, frowning at the tear floating about ten feet ahead of her. She and the five warriors from the Grand Kai's planet that she'd brought along with her had routed out a good fifty Demons so far. Though, most of them had fled rather than fight. Something that quite annoyed her Sai-jin nature. Beyond that, they kept fleeing through the tears and there was no way of knowing where a tear lead. Were they escaping back to their own realm or had they simply gone to another plane in Shinkai?

She'd been following the progress of the others, Olibu and Pikkon's groups, and knew they were having the same problem. Though she'd also noticed something else. Not every Demon they chased fled with their groups, or stood and fought as a few had done. Some of them fled away from their groups, away from the tears, and those few were gathering in the same place within the H.F.I.L. for some reason.

"And I want to know why." she said to herself, gazing off toward where eight of these powers were now gathered, with two more quickly approaching them. "They must be up to something." She glanced back at those with her gave her head a jerk in the direction of those Demons, and set off for them. They weren't too far from her current location and as she neared them she saw a mountain rising up in the distance. They seemed to be gathering at its summit.

Drawing closer she noticed an eerie purple and green glow coming from the top of the mountain, and then began to make out chanting voices. She had little experience with magic but had witnessed enough of it over the years to recognize its use when she saw it. These Demons certainly were up to something and whatever it was it wasn't good. Time to put a wrench in their plans. She pulled back an arm, charged a ball of ki, and then hurled it at the mountain top.

The attack never made contact. Still twenty feet away from the gathering, which she could now make out clearly, a bolt of some unknown energy lanced out, pierced the attack, and destroyed it. Frowning, Appla pulled to a stop. She was in Super Sai-jin and none of these... she did a quick count... eleven were strong enough to stop her attack like that. Of course, magic obeyed its own rules. Shifting positions she cupped her hands at her side, blue energy pulsing to life between them.

"Kaaaa meeee haaaa meeee HAAAA!" she cried, thrusting her arms out and firing the attack. Just as it was launched there was a flash of red from the gathering Demons, and they all suddenly blurred and melted into the middle of the circle they'd formed. Then there was a loud crack, another flash of light, this time of green, and a sudden surge of power. An instant later her attack had reached them and was deflected. Lowering her arms she blinked a few times.

The eleven Demons she'd come after were gone. Now only one remained, one far stronger than they had been. He stood seven feet tall, had hairy bull like legs, a muscular red scaled torso with a barrel of a chest, the head of golden maned lion, green eyes, boar's tusks, dear antlers, and a lizard like tail that Appla realized, a moment later, was an actual snake. Complete with head and fangs.

The Demon flexed its taloned hands and smirked up at her. "So close, but unfortunately for you, too late." he said in a deep rasp of a voice. "The spell of Dark Ascension is complete. Surrender or be destroyed."

Appla snorted. "Sai-jins don't surrender. Let's see what you've got."

"As you wish!" he cried, launching up at her.

Appla's eyes widened in shock as the Demon's power climbed even higher. With a yell she powered up a Super Kaioken and surged in at him, but suddenly he vanished. There was a thunderous crack an instant later and her eyes and mouth snapped open wide in pain as he re-appeared, knee buried in her stomach. She wavered for a moment, and then her aura faded, her hair turned black once more, her eyes closed, and she plummeted to the ground below.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Outside the Store

Hotaru frowned as she watched the opening close. She'd never have been able to move fast enough to get through, and she really was in no shape to fight anyone, but she still felt like she should be in there helping. Sitting on the side-lines had never been a strong point of hers. If it had, she'd never have rushed off to help Earth against Zarbon in the first place.

"Excuse me." said the short woman, looking up at Hotaru. "You... you're the Tanarian Queen, right?"

"I am." she answered.

The small woman licked her lips and fidgeted a bit, clearly nervous about something. "Why..." she started after a moment, but trailed off. "I don't get..." she tried again, but then trailed off once more and frowned a little, apparently unsure how to voice what was on her mind. Hotaru thought she had an idea, though.

"You're wondering why Queen Nova's here?" she asked. The small woman nodded causing Hotaru to sigh. "I understand your worries, believe me. My people were nearly wiped out by the Ginyu Force shortly before I was born."

"So then, why...?"

"Because it was the Ginyu Force, Frieza, who attacked my world. Not Nova or the entire Changeling race. Every race has its bad apples. The Changelings were just unfortunate enough that their bad apples were stronger than everyone else and became the face of their race." Hotaru could tell the other woman wasn't entirely convinced. "You don't hate the Nameks, do you?"

"Huh?"

"The Nameks, like Piccolo. You don't feel the same about them as you do the Changelings, do you?"

"No..." she replied, obviously not sure what Hotaru was getting at.

"Well, they had their bad apples too." said Hotaru. "Slug and his son, both on par with the likes of Frieza, both just as evil. If they hadn't been roaming the galaxy wiping out planets to steal their resources for the last few hundred years they could have built an Empire from planet Namek to rival that of the Changelings. Probably could have taken out the Changelings, for that matter, since Slug killed Frigid in the first place, leaving his son Cold, who was weaker than him, to head their Empire.

"So if things had gone differently you might never have even heard of the Changeling race, and instead it would be the Nameks you hated, all because of two of them who were bad. But nobody here has any problem with Piccolo because very few people alive now ever ran into Slug or his son. What I'm getting at is that it's not the Changelings that are evil or dangerous, it was just Cold and his sons. The rest of the race aren't like them. Are all of your people like you?"

"Wha... Well, no..."

"Well, there you go. No matter what the natural innate mentality of a race is there are always those that differ from the norm. Cold and his sons were just drunk with their power and high on their own arrogance. If it weren't for Nova we'd have had no warning about Kuriiza and his people could have killed a lot of spectators at the tournament before being cau..." Hotaru trailed off as a power spike slammed into her senses, and then a sudden explosion blew out all the windows on the fourth floor of the store and the barrier field buckled and failed all around.

Hotaru shielded her eyes and moved back across the street out of the way of the falling debris, as did the SDF recruits. "What's going on?" she wondered. She couldn't sense any of the seven Demons they'd been after, or Pug and Nova. She could, however, sense Tien and one other power, slightly higher than his. There was a loud crack a second later and Tien, four armed and with a red aura pulsing around him, came surging out of the dust into the street, pulling to a stop a few feet short of hitting another building.

"What's happened?" Hotaru called up.

"I'm not sure, the Demons did some kind of spell and then..." he trailed off as the female Demon he was fighting floated out of the dust to face him.

"They used the spell of Dark Ascension." she said. "They destroyed themselves and used their souls to transcend their existence as Demons and forge a new being out of the pathetic mortal they had captured. They created me. I am Gloom, evil made flesh." She grinned again, once more running her tongue over her lips. "I will make you bleed, make you scream, and feast on your death!" A dark purple aura flared to life around her and she surged in at Tien once more.

XXX

Shinkai, The H.F.I.L.

Pikkon pulled to a sudden stop and turned away from the Demons he'd been in pursuit of. A large power had just blossomed into existence somewhere behind him, and it was still growing. An instant later he felt Appla's power shoot up as well, but the other quickly matched and then surpassed it and Appla's dropped away. /Looks like there's still someone other than these weaklings left after all./ he thought.

"Everyone, head back up to the Grand Kai's world!" Pikkon ordered. "This one is too much for all of you, I'll go handle it." They all nodded and he watched them fly up out of the H.F.I.L. for a moment before shooting off toward the new power at top speed. As he flew he sensed Olibu's power spike up and start toward the new Demon as well. /What's he doing?/ he wondered. /He's not that much stronger than Appla's maximum, he doesn't stand a chance against this one. It's nearly as powerful as I am. Only one thing for it./

"Hyper Flash Attack!" he called, as he suddenly glowed blue. An instant later he'd vanished from where he had been, and re-appeared with a loud crack a few feet behind where the antlered Demon had just been floating. Said Demon was now surging down toward the ground in quite a bit of shock. Pikkon turned his attention from it to Olibu, who'd also just arrived. "I've got this one." he said. "Take Appla and head back up to the Grand Kai's world for now."

Olibu nodded. "Alright." he said, before flying down to where Appla lay, face down, on the rocks below. He figured it was a good thing she was already dead or the blow she'd taken would have probably killed her, instead of just knocking her out. Dead bodies took quite a bit more to destroy than living ones did. Scooping her up he arced up into the sky and flew off toward the Grand Kai's world again.

Pikkon, meanwhile, had turned his focus back toward his opponent, who had stopped themselves from hitting the ground and was now floating back up to join him in the air. /Definitely one of the odder looking Demons I've seen./ Pikkon thought as he pulled off his hat and cape, tossing the weighted garments aside. It had been a while since he'd fought seriously against someone so close to his own power, he was rather looking forward to it.

"You should have stayed in Makai, Demon." he said, moving into a fighting stance.

The other smirked. "Demon? No, I'm no Demon. I am Death itself, evil incarnate. I am Doom and I will bathe this land in your blood."

"Unlikely, but you are welcome to try."

XXX

Makai, Limbo, The Path Between Planes

The flight through the Dead Zone had been boring, even with their on going conversations. All of the relevant topics had been covered fairly quickly. Even Raven and the issues she and her mate had been creating. Dabura had been interested in what they knew of her and her actions, and Gohan could understand why seeing as she arranged for their current problems. The Mazoku King had never heard of anyone giving orders to their soldiers to carry out after death before, and he'd been around quite a while.

That topic had carried them most of the way through the Dead Zone and about half the way through the path between planes. They had flown in silence since then and now they were nearing the end of the path between the Dead Zone and Purgatory. Unlike the path between the H.F.I.L. and Hell back in Shinkai, this one was not a snake like tunnel. Rather, the entrance had been the mouth of a black skull and the tunnel felt like flying through a giant spine. It was just as straight as one, as well, and so they spotted the light marking the exit some time before they reached it.

Emerging from the tunnel Dabura pulled to a stop. Purgatory was much different than the H.F.I.L. in appearance. The "Black Skull Path" they had just traversed exited onto a small planet slightly larger than King Kai's, but not by much. Looking around them Goku and the others could see hundreds other similar planets, some quite small and others very large, all just floating around in what seemed to be a blue sky.

"Weird." said Goku, gazing off to his right at someone who was standing on the bottom of one of the near-by planets, and thus appeared to be upside down.

"From here I can transport us directly to the Mazoku Plane." said Dabura. "Gather around and..." His voice trailed off, his eyes narrowed, and he turned his gaze skyward. Goku and the others looked up as well, wondering what he was looking for. Above them, beyond the reach of several dozen more worlds, they could just faintly make out some sort of shimmering blue surface.

"What's that?" Gohan asked Nefaria.

"The underside of the Ocean of Limbo." she replied. "It works as a barrier between Limbo and Purgatory."

"Like the clouds back home?" asked Goku, lowering his eyes to look at her.

"Exactly."

"Huh, that's diff..." and then Goku trailed off as well, his gaze going back up to the clouds. "Hey... Bardock, isn't that...?"

"I... think so." Bardock said slowly. "But it... feels weird."

"And it's bigger than before." said Gohan. "And still growing."

"We should check it out." said Goku, placing two fingers against his forehead. "Grab on to me guys, I can get us there."

XXX

Makai, Limbo, The Grand Mazoku's World, Malchio's Palace

"What the...!" Malus cried, taking a step back. The purple and black energy that had been flowing into the Shinkai Mortal from Malchio's hands had suddenly flashed a bright and blinding red as a shock wave issued forth, blasting Malchio back a dozen feet into the wall. The three Demons were spared similar occurrences merely because they had been at a greater distance. The red light flared up and engulfed the Mortal in a dome of energy that was growing larger and larger by the second, a ferocious and hate filled roar resounding from within.

"I vote we leave!" cried Akuhei, as the room began to tremble. Malchio had already climbed to his feet, a look of shock and disbelief on his face, before fleeing himself. The three Demons turned and quickly did likewise, leaving behind the Mazoku's throne room only seconds before the surging energy field engulfed the entire thing and smashed through the walls. Once back outside they stood with the Grand Mazoku and watched on in awe as red light flooded out from within the palace and the cries of anger grew louder.

"Do... do you feel that?" asked Paine, taking a few steps back from the Palace as the entire planet began to tremble. Suddenly a beam of black and purple energy blasted out of the palace, ripping a massive hole in its side, and surged into the sky. Another beam followed, lancing off in another direction, then a third and forth, and still the red light flooded out from within, the dome of energy growing large and larger.

"His power is... it's increasing rapidly." said Akuhei. "This is... at this rate he's going to nearly match the Supreme Mazoku!" Suddenly there was a blinding flash of gold and a thunderous explosion that shook the planet. As the glare faded away it revealed a massive hole blasted out of the front of the Grand Mazoku's palace, and a figure floating several dozen feet in the air.

The blue clothes and white boots, and the spiky hair, said that it was the Shinkai Mortal, though his appearance had now changed. His hair was now pure white, a red line ran down from his bottom lip over his chin while two more ran up, one each, from each of his eye brows and then hooked off to the sides of his head. His eyes were green and he had a purple aura with golden lightning snapping around it.

"He... he's nearly as powerful as Nefaria." Malus said in slow surprise. "How is..." but he trailed off there as the man floated down to land a few feet in front of them, aura fading away, smirking.

"You are impressive indeed." Malchio said, recovering from his own shock. He had not expected the man's power to increase nearly this much. All the transformation into a Demon did was bring a person up to their current maximum potential of power, to draw out all of their latent and untapped energy. And, of course, to bind their wills to his. For a Mortal, let alone a living Mortal, to have a capacity this great... He had never witnessed the like.

"You will make a fine addition to Lord Quietus's forces." he said after moment. He then reached out a hand and placed it on the Mortal's arm. "Come, we must report to the Mazoku plane at once. I am sure he will have use for you."

"Let go of me, little man." he said, narrowing his eyes and scowling. "I have plans of my own."

Malchio blinked, then frowned. "You have nothing of your own, now. You serve me, and through me you serve Lord Quietus."

The man's eyes narrowed further, the hand of his free arm reaching up and grabbing the Mazoku's. "The King of all Sai-jins serves no one but himself, little man." he said softly, darkly, as he squeezed the other's hand. There was a series of loud cracks as the bones in his hand began to snap under the pressure. The Mazoku cried out and stumbled back, jerking his hand free of the other's relaxed grip. However, all attention was suddenly drawn away from the the Grand Mazoku and the Mortal toward a spot several yards to their right. Five new, and very high, powers had just appeared out of nowhere.

"V-Vegeta!"

"Ah, Kakkarotto. Just the man I was looking for."


	58. Escalation

A/N: Jeff, I think you have Nefaria mixed up with Dabura. :) Goku and Bardock are just barely stronger than Nefaria, but no match for Dabura.

Also (of some importance) I've made a minor change to the 4th and 5th paragraphs of Chapter 34 of this saga, making some adjustments to the powers of the Tanarians of the past that I recently discovered were needed. This minor change is one of many such adjustments I'll be making slowly to several points of the series, to correct things that have sense been retconned, or that I simply no longer like as they are. Some of these changes will be small, others may encompass entire chapters or change major events. In each case, I will include a note in the newest chapter indicating what has been changed where so that anyone who cares can check to see the change.

Chapter Fifty-eight - Escalation

"You know each other?" asked Dabura.

"Yeah. I think so." said Goku. "It certainly sounds like Vegeta and, more or less, looks like him. The hair and the eyes are different, and there weren't red markings on his face, but otherwise..."

"Even ignoring all of that, he still looks different, somehow." said Bardock.

Vegeta smirked. "I am different. I'm stronger, much stronger."

"I see." said Dabura, glancing toward Malchio and frowning. "You used your magic on him, didn't you? Dark Awakening?"

"Dark Awakening?" asked Bardock. "What's that?"

"It is magic that transforms a person or object into a Demon in order to draw out any latent and untapped power." explained Dabura. "It brings the person in question up to the maximum amount of power they are currently capable of producing, and links their wills to that of Malchio's, making them his slave. But... such a thing should not be possible on a living Mortal. The Spirit Barrier should prevent it."

"Spirit Barrier?" Vegeta asked, arching an eyebrow. "That does ring a... ah, yes, the giant brain. So, that's what he and his lackey did to me. Well, it doesn't matter I suppose. I don't care how it happened, just that it has. You are wrong on one point, however. I am nobody's slave, the Sai-jin King bows to no one." He turned his gaze from Dabura, then, to Goku. "Now, Kakkarotto, we will have our fight."

Goku blinked. "What? Fight? Vegeta, I don't think now is..."

"Who cares what you think?" Vegeta interrupted, scowling. "You are a nobody! A low class! The weakest Sai-jin born in recorded history! And yet, time and again, you have surpassed me! ME! The Sai-jin King, descendant of the strongest Sai-jin line, heir of the first Super Sai-jin! You became stronger than I, became a Super Sai-jin before I, defeated Frieza when it should have been me, constantly outclassing me, mocking my power, destroying my pride!"

"Vegeta..."

"But now... now I will prove that I am the best. That I am the greatest and most powerful Sai-jin. That I deserve to be the heir of the royal family, deserve to be King. Now, it ends. Fight or die, Kakkarotto!" Vegeta cried, his purple aura flaring to life around him as he surged in at Goku. The other barely had time to react, quickly powering up and only just deflecting the punch aimed for his head.

Bardock dodged out of the way quickly, eyes wide in surprise. He wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Time was important, he knew they couldn't stand around here all day. The longer it took them to get to Quietus the greater the chance was he'd be ready for them, or that he'd send another invasion force through causing more trouble back in Shinkai. Yet, he also knew he could not fight Vegeta.

He had the power to do so, certainly. It felt like Vegeta's power had doubled from what it was before, which meant he and Goku were still slightly stronger. But Vegeta was a member of the royal family. The very idea of fighting against a member of the royal family was beyond distasteful to him. As he considered his options, trying to decide what to do, he continued to watch the on going exchange. Vegeta may have been the weaker of the two, but the ferocity of his assault was driving Goku back, barely able to keep pace. Though Bardock thought part of it might also be shock.

"So he is the current Sai-jin King?" asked Dabura.

Bardock nodded slowly. "Yeah. His father would have stepped down from the position a few years ago, when Prince Trunks turned five."

"Interesting. I thought that with the Sai-jins the strongest one ruled?"

"Originally, yeah. For the last ten thousand years that's been Vegeta's family. I suppose if any of us had wanted to we could have forcibly taken over, but we've been ruled by the same family for so long most of us don't even really consider it a matter of power anymore that they rule, but ability as rulers."

"Hmm, I see. Your race has changed a lot since my last experience with it. Anyway, it doesn't matter. We do not have time for this, we have a mission to accomplish." he said, suddenly charging in toward the fighting pair. He slipped between the two Sai-jins an instant later, blocking one of Vegeta's punches with ease.

"Get out of my way." Vegeta growled, floating back a couple of feet.

"I don't care about your petty squabbles. If you want to fight each other, then fine, but do it on your own time. Right now these two have a job to do."

"No, it's fine." said Goku, relaxing a little and looking toward Dabura. "You go on ahead, I'll stay here and deal with this."

"This is no time for Sai-jin battle lust." Dabura said, crossing his arms. "Or have you already forgotten the plan the Kais concocted?"

"You don't need the both of us for the Spirit Bomb, Bardock can create one on his own. My presence at the battle wouldn't make that much of a difference." Goku said as he turned his gaze back to Vegeta. "Besides, I think this is something he and I have to settle. He's been wanting to fight me for years. I've never really understood it before, we've always been allies in our battles, but I think I get it now.

"Once all of this is over... who knows if Bardock and I will still be alive? We weren't revived by the Dragonballs this time, but by part of their invasion tactic. Once it's over and everything is set right again that could include us, too. He's no Frieza or Cell, but I doubt I'll be seeing him on the Grand Kai's world, either. This could be our only chance."

Dabura frowned, glancing between the two fighters, and then sighed and nodded. "Fine." he said. "You should be able to sense us once our fight starts. Finish things here and then use your teleportation skill to join us." He turned from the two Sai-jins and made his way over to where Bardock, Gohan, and Nefaria stood. "Just don't get yourself killed, you're not in Shinkai anymore. Finding your soul would be... tedious."

Goku nodded and turned his gaze back to Vegeta again. "Well, looks like you get your fight, Vegeta." he said, reaching up and popping his shoulder. "Ready?"

"Are you?"

Goku smirked. "Alright, let's go!"

As the two Sai-jins charged in toward each other Gohan turned his attention from them and toward the others standing near-by. The short being that Dabura had addressed as Malchio and the three with him. One of whom he recognized from back in Hell. "That's the Demon I fought before." he said. "If he's here, and Vegeta's here, then Videl must be here too. Or at least she was, but they'll still know where she is now. You guys go ahead without me, I'm going to try and find her."

"Alright." Bardock said, nodding. "But be careful."

"You too."

Bardock grinned. "Always."

Gohan watched as he joined Dabura and Nefaria and then the three of them vanished. He cast a glance toward Vegeta and his father again, they'd taken to the air above the planet and were currently duking it out at close range at speeds he couldn't really follow. /This Dark Awakening thing must be really powerful, he's become so much stronger than before./ he thought. He shook it off, however, and turned to find the ones he sought.

The three Demons and Malchio were standing right were they had been when he and the others first arrived on the planet, they hadn't moved at all. They seemed to be in something of a state of shock, watching the fight between his father and Vegeta. He couldn't really blame them, though. If he wasn't so worried about Videl he'd probably be in a similar condition himself. But he'd wait to awe at his father's power until after he knew she was ok.

"Alright, where's Videl?" Gohan asked, walking over to them. "I know you brought her here, too. What'd you do with her?"

His voice seemed to snap the four of them out of their shock. "And who are you?" Malchio asked, frowning.

"He's the one I fought." said Malus. "Before Nefaria interrupted us." He smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "I think it's time to finish our fight from before."

"Do you really think that right now is the time for that?" asked Paine. "With those two duking it out above our heads?"

"Bah, who cares about them?" said Malus, waving it off. "They're too wrapped up in their own fight to spare any interest in us. And those others have gone off to fight Quietus, it would seem, which means they wont be coming back. So it's just us and him."

"Look, I don't have time to play with you. What did you do with Videl?"

Malus laughed and thumbed over his shoulder, at the partly destroyed palace. "She's back in there." he said. "If she survived Princey's power-up, that is."

Gohan blinked and looked over the head of the Demon, toward the collapsed palace. /Videl's in there?/ he thought. /I can't sense her... Is it because dad and Vegeta are overwhelming my senses or...? No, I can't think like that. I have to stay positive until I find her./ He lifted into the air and started flying toward the palace but had to veer off as a blast of red energy sped toward him and nearly collided with his head.

"You want to go find her, you'll have to get through me, first, brat." Malus said, floating up to join him. "I want to finish our fight."

Gohan frowned and moved his gaze from the Demon's face to his injured arm. "You sure you should in your condition?" he asked. "This wont be like last time, you wont be invincible against me."

"It'll take more than a puny injury like this to let you beat me." Malus laughed.

/I don't have time to deal with him. If Videl's injured then every second I waste could be her last. Not that I have any way of helping her even if I do find her, we didn't think to bring any Senzu Beans with us. Either way, I'm going to have to get this lunk head out of the way first./ He sighed and shook his head and then, in a burst of gold, surged in toward the Demon.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Outside the Store

Tien ducked under a right hook from Gloom, then came up and slammed his lower left fist into her stomach, and his upper left hooked up into her jaw. The two blows forced her up and back a few feet and he quickly moved in, spun, and slammed the heel of his right foot into the side of her head. As he moved to launch another attack her tail suddenly surged in and slammed into his chest driving him back and away from her.

She had the edge in power, but it wasn't by much. He could handle her, it would just take a while. /And I have to watch out for that tail, too./ he mused, rubbing his sore chest. His extra limbs did give him something of an advantage, however. Four hands to two meant that even when she blocked or caught two blows he still had two more arms to attack with. Even counting limb totals he had one more than she did. Four arms and two legs to two arms, two legs, and a tail.

/I just have to capitalize on that. Still, it would be nice to have Mijima or Gainin here. I'm sure either one of them could take her down in a single hit. As could Nova, if she were still conscious./ He cast a glance back toward the ruined and smoldering building then. He could, just faintly, sense the Changeling Queen and Pug inside.

They weren't dead, just out. Pug never stood a chance in the blast, he just wasn't quick enough to act, and Nova's reaction time hadn't been quite enough to save her. He'd only just felt her power spiking when the blast wave hit, and by then he'd already powered up a Kinryoku and Kaioken.

/And even with both of them up, increasing my power a hundred fold from normal, I still got tossed around like a rag doll by the shock wave. The others were still mostly at rest. They're lucky to be alive./ Shaking his head he turned his focus back to his opponent. It was a good thing he'd been recently revived, otherwise he'd still be too worn from his fight with Slug earlier to stand much chance now. As it was he'd have to be careful in order to avoid being killed.

Launching in at her again he aimed a left kick for her head but she slipped to the side and blocked it with a forearm. He quickly thrust his upper right arm forward and fired a blast of energy into her face, which impacted with a satisfying crack. Then he twisted around aimed his other foot at her head, but as he came around to face her again she was gone. "What? Where did she..."

"Darkness Fissure!"

Tien's eyes widened and he turned toward the voice, which had come from behind him, and spotted Gloom bringing her arm down like an axe about fifty feet away. He quickly dodged to the side as a rush of black energy surged toward him and sped by. There was a loud screeching, tearing, grinding sound from behind him and he looked back to see the energy slice through several dozen buildings before fading.

"Well, being hit by that would have been unpleasant." he muttered, turning to face her again. /But what was that? Teleportation or something else? I didn't sense her move, and didn't sense her behind me until she launched the attack. This makes things more difficult, as if they weren't hard enough already. Well, no sense floating here and complaining about it./ In a burst of red he charged in at her again and resumed their close range high speed flurry of attacks.

He blocked a kick with his lower right arm, a punch with his upper right arm, and then thrust his left foot out into her stomach before upper-cutting her in the jaw with his lower left elbow. His upper left hand then grabbing hold of one of her ram like horns he turned quickly on the spot and pitched her down at the ground, away from where he could still sense Hotaru and the SDF recruits watching the battle.

Only a few feet short of hitting the ground she suddenly blurred and then vanished. Tien spun around quickly and brought all four arms up across his chest, just barely fast enough to block the kick that had been aimed at his back. /I still didn't sense her move. One second she's down below, next thing she's up here. It has to be some sort of teleportation technique, but how come I didn't sense her until after I'd already blocked her kick? If I hadn't turned around on instinct.../

He dodged to the right around a kick, then down under a punch, only to have her tail slam into his face a second later. The impact flipped him upside down and she slammed both of her palms into his back with a loud crack. He quickly flipped over and around in the air and fired off a ki blast at her, which she easily deflected as she charged at him. However, in the moment she'd been focusing on defending against the attack he brought his lower two arms up into a triangle shape in front of his chest while his upper two came up, fingers splayed, in front of his face.

"Solar Flare!"

Light flared blindingly bright from the point where Tien floated and the Demon, caught by surprise, let out a scream of pain as the intensity of it made her eyes feel as though they were on fire. She pulled to a stop in her charge for her opponent and brought her hands up to block the light and try to rub it out of her eyes. She'd only been at it for a moment when she felt a sudden power spike from the man she was fighting, and then his voice called out again.

"Tri-beam!"

Hotaru watched from below, shielding her eyes as best as she could so she could still see. Tien was in front of her, and so was the Demon, so she'd been spared the brunt of the Solar Flare, but her eyes still burned from the glare. It made it hard to visually track Tien's attack, and the Demon's position. Still, she was just able to catch the woman vanish before the attack reached her.

There was a loud crack an instant later and she shifted her gaze back to Tien to find the Demon floating there and Tien surging down toward the ground from a kick to the head. It was about a second later that she felt Gloom's ki again, in its new locattion. /What is up with her teleportation?/ she wondered. /Why does it take a moment before her ki signal changes locations, even though she moves in an instant?/

Gloom, meanwhile, had pulled back her right arm and cupped her palm. An instant later there was a spark of black energy in her hand and she smirked. "Dark Fire Destruction!" she called, pitching the ball of energy toward the point down the street where Tien had slammed into the ground. The black energy swelled and then exploded, the shockwave driving Hotaru and the SDF Recruits backward several dozen yards.

Three of the nearest buildings trembled, cracks snaking up from their foundations, and then collapsed throwing up billowing clouds of dust and hiding the shrinking dome of energy. Though she couldn't see him Hotaru could still sense Tien at the center of the blast zone. He felt little worse for the wear and Hotaru had the feeling that Gloom had held back. With any luck, she'd keep doing so until she lost.

XXX

Shinkai, The H.F.I.L.

Pikkon dodged to the right, just slipping around Doom's powerful punch. He'd already discarded his weighted clothing and powered-up to his maximum, and still he was barely faster than his opponent. In the two actual exchanges of attacks that they had made in the last sixty seconds he was wondering if the Demon might actually be stronger than him. His ki didn't feel like it was higher, but his punches seemed to carry more force, and his body seemed to provide more resistance.

/Though, the resistance could just be these scales./ he thought, slamming a kick into Doom's scaled stomach, knocking him back a few feet. /They're almost like armor. I'm not sure why his power seems greater than his ki feels, though./ He slipped around another punch and then kicked out for the side of the Demon's head, but one of his massive scaled arms came up and blocked it. /His bulky size doesn't seem to be hindering his speed or mobility in the slightest, either./

He blocked a punch aimed for his head, the impact still driving him back a couple of feet, and then lashed out with another kick of his own, which was also blocked. He was just about to attempt a punch when he caught something green surging toward him out of the corner of his eye. As he quickly dodged back and away from the Demon he realized the green thing had been its tail, the snake's mouth snapping shut right where his arm had been an instant before.

While Pikkon was distracted by the lunging tail, Doom moved in and then slammed a hard punch in the dead alien's face. The blow snapped his head back and launched him flying backwards. Or would have, had Doom not reached out and grabbed his right foot, jerking him to a sudden stop, before twisting around and pitching him down toward the ground with all of his force.

Pikkon scowled at the rapidly nearing rocky terrain for moment. Mere seconds from impact his voice rang out. "Hyper Flash Attack!" and in a glowing blue light he vanished. There was a loud crack high above the ground as he reappeared a dozen feet to Doom's left, his back toward him. The Demon was now bent double, holding his stomach. His expression a mix of shock and pain. Turning to face his opponent again Pikkon continued to scowl. "You are proving to be more of a nuisance than I expected." he said. "I guess that means it's time to go all out."

The Demon growled as it straightened up and turned to face him. "You can't fool me, Mortal." he said. "You have no more power than this, you are already at your maximum."

"That is partly true." said Pikkon, his scowl fading a little. "I have no more power. However, I am not at my maximum. When you are competing with the likes of Goku and Bardock you either quickly learn to by-pass your limits or you can forget about competing with them. I owe this technique in part to them, I'd never seen any such skills before meeting them seven years ago. It took me three years to develop this, and it's still nothing compared to the Kaio Ken, and still not nearly enough to keep up with them, but it'll be enough to deal with you."

Pikkon clenched his hands into fists, hunched over, and let out a cry as his blue aura flared up savagely around him. "Hyper Striker!" he called, his aura growing incredibly bright, flashing, and then vanishing before returning a burst of bright blue-white light. It no longer looked like a normal aura, however, but like he was some sort of machine in the process of shorting out. The aura flowed up and out around him like an electric field.

Doom's eyes widened as he felt the other's power spike up, but he didn't have time to do anything else before Pikkon suddenly surged in at him and smashed a hard right hook into his jaw. He followed it up with a knee to the stomach, an elbow to the back of the neck, and then a kick to his back that drove him forward and down toward the ground. In a flash of blue he surged down at him and pounded both fists into his back, rocketing the Demon down the last four hundred feet into the ground below, which he hit with a thunderous crash blasting out a crater four hundred yards wide.

The dead warrior landed at the edge of the crater a moment later, the flashing blue-white aura still pulsing around him. "And now, to wrap things up." he said as he began to move through a series of motions. Down in the crater Doom had managed to pick himself up onto his hands and knees and was scowling as he started to softly chant something. From where he stood Pikkon couldn't hear it and he thrust his arms out, side-by-side, hands closed into fists. "Thunder Flash Attack!"

The fire like energy surged down into the crater toward the Demon's location. However, it was not the only thing surging in toward the Demon. Pikkon caught glimpses of white wisps, and of purple energy, flowing in toward him as well, from all directions. He wasn't sure what the Demon was up to but he hoped it wasn't enough to prevent his attack from doing serious damage. The attack hit an instant later and exploded, blasting a towering column dust and debris into the air.

Yet still the white wisps and purple energy flowed toward the center of the crater. More and more of them, faster and faster. Pikkon could feel that the Demon's power had not decreased at all from his attack, an attack that should have been able to destroy it. What's more, it felt like his power was shifting and churning, like there was something seething within it. /I have a bad feeling about this./ he thought, frowning.

XXX

Shinkai, Otherworld, Yemma's Check-in Station

Zenryou sighed as he stepped out of the station and gazed at the empty path normally filled with souls. He, Kibito, and Mikomi had remained at the station a little longer than intended, after discovering the sealed door. They'd gone to speak with Yemma about his condition first, and that had lead them to helping out around the station a little. It seemed the Star Barrier hadn't been the only recent change, several leylines had jammed and a distortion of an unknown nature had formed inside the archives.

The leylines had been easy enough to open up. A little holy power shoved through them had cleared out the dark energies that had been clogging them, though it was only a temporary fix. Until the cloud barrier was restored dark energy would continue to flow up from Hell and the H.F.I.L. and continue to jam the leylines. The distortion in the archives had been another matter. It hadn't been a tear, that much they were able to determine at once. What it was had taken a little longer to work out.

It was a space fold. Nothing overly dangerous on its own, but it had forced the Oni to start emptying out that section of the archives as the fold had still been growing. All it amounted to was a small pocket of 'folded' space, an area of Otherworld that had more or less collapsed in on itself and, for all intents and purpose, didn't exist at the moment. Nothing inside the fold had been destroyed, it was just unreachable until space restored itself, which could happen spontaneously at any moment.

Mikomi figured it had only happened because the distortions around it had managed to twist the 4th dimension around the 5th. Eventually it would twist enough that, effectively, it would be back to normal again, at which point the fold would vanish. So she wasn't really concerned about it and now they were about to return to the Grand Kai's planet to aid in the routing of the remaining Demons.

As he looked out at the empty path, however, Zenryou's senses picked up something right at the edge of his reach. Stretching his mind out a little further he realized the brush he'd felt had been the familiarity of Pikkon's power. Just as he realized this he also felt another, darker, power right on top of him. One of near equal level which he found a bit surprising. He had thought all the stronger Demons had been dealt with. And then he felt Pikkon's power suddenly spike up. /Oh? Now what is this?/ he wondered.

"Ready?" Mikomi asked as she and Kibito emerged from the station as well.

Zenryou kept his mind on Pikkon's power as he glanced over to Mikomi. "Yes. And we may as well start by giving Pikkon a..." he trailed off as he felt the power Pikkon had been fighting begin to shift and change. But it was more than the shifting power that drew his focus. It was what he sensed around the Demon. Souls. Dark souls, ones full of evil energy. The Demon was, somehow, and for some reason, drawing the Souls of the H.F.I.L. to it. And then the shifting of the Demon's energy made sense.

"We have problem." he said, turning to face that direction as he felt the Demon's power growing. "We've got a Soul Eater in the H.F.I.L."

"What?" Mikomi asked. "Are you certain?"

Zenryou nodded. "They're fighting Pikkon. I can feel the souls being drawn in."

"We have no time to waste, then." Mikomi said, vanishing. Kibito and Zenryou followed suit an instant later.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Gainin's Group

"Aduro, Glacius, check that cave on the left." Gainin said, with a nod toward the cave in question. The opening, a fissure in the hard rock ground of the area, looked like it would barely be large enough to accommodate the two Changelings. The Cyborg wasn't sure if there was anyone hiding in there or not, though he thought he'd picked up a blip on his scanner just the same, so it was best to check it out.

As the two Changelings nodded in confirmation to the order and started toward the cave Gainin motioned to the third Changeling in his group to follow him toward another cave. This one had a larger opening set in the side of a small rock mountain. He knew for a fact that there were powers in here, he'd picked up six of them a moment ago, before they'd dropped out of detection range.

"Keep your eyes peeled, Frigus." he said. "There's at least six of them in..." He trailed off as suddenly three screeching Demons, a fat duck like one with green feathers, a massive one with a gorilla's body and the head of an ant, and very humanoid one that still had a bird beak for a mouth, surged out of the cave at the two of them. The two fighters reacted at once. Gainin thrust out both arms firing off a stream of blue energy at the ant headed one while Frigus launched a blast of pink energy from his mouth at the beaked Demon.

Both Demons fell at once, causing the duck Demon to hesitate. Gainin smirked, lunged in, and was about to smash his fist into the duck's bill when two streams of red energy suddenly came at him. The Cyborg veered off course and fired off two more blasts of blue energy into the cave. The explosions caused by the attacks caused the roof to cave in. Turning back toward the duck he found the Demon being held up in the air with one hand by the Changeling. A second later there was a loud crack as his neck snapped and the Frigus dropped him back to the ground.

Gainin shook his head and turned to head back to the cave the other two were searching when he picked up two high powers back in the direction of the city. /Tien and someone else./ he thought, glancing that way. /Doesn't look like anything he can't handle, though, so back to work./

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Mijima's Group

Mijima pursed her lips and smiled bemusedly as she stared at the large green and scaly fist currently pressed against her face. This was the fourth Demon so far to assume that her lack of a sensable power meant a lack of strength, and thus charged out blindly at her in an attempt to kill her, only to fail to even scratch her. It had yet to get old, and she was doubting it ever would even as Gust came charging in, sunlight glinting off the pink triangular shaped plate on his head, and killed the reptilian Demon with a kick to the head.

"Maybe we should start using you as bait." the Changeling joked in a silky, smooth, and almost feminine voice that the Cyborg thought didn't fit his large and muscular body.

"Haha, very funny." Mijima said. "If Cicle and Ventos would kill them BEFORE they got to me this wouldn't keep happening."

"When ten of them come surging up at once even we can't get them all." Ventos said, brushing some dust off of the green plate on his left shoulder. "We're good but we're not miracle workers."

"Ha!" Cicle cried. "Speak for yourself! I could take them all out without trying, I just don't want to make you look bad."

"Oooh, I hear a challenge." Mijima said, grinning. "Alright, let's see who's better." She turned where she floated above the forest, scanners searching out powers. "Ah, there we go. About fourteen of them two miles in that direction. I'll draw them out and you two can take them down."

"One point for each Demon." Gust said, also grinning. "But you lose two points for each one that gets through to Mijima."

"Hah, I'll get a perfect fourteen!" said Cicle, smirking, as they flew off toward their new targets.

"How's the Queen doing?" asked Gust while Cicle and Ventos boasted about who would do better than who.

"I still haven't seen a sign of her." replied the Cyborg. She'd picked up Tien's power spike a few minutes ago, along with the arrival of that other power higher than anything out here. The fact that only Tien was fighting it had her concerned for the safety of the others, especially Nova as she'd begun forming a friendship with the Changeling Queen since their meeting in the garden. Still, if something had happened to her, again, there was nothing they could do by rushing off to the city now. Best to stick with the plan unless something happened that required they head back.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Piccolo's Group

Piccolo lowered his arm as the green energy stream faded away. He'd quickly set up a battle plan with the three Changelings who'd been assigned to his group, Pulo, Procello, and Ornado. They were the weakest of the Changelings Nova had called down to the planet, and thus the ones closest to the level of the Demons they were hunting. So they would travel ahead of him toward where he indicated.

The Demons would then come into the open, in an effort to attack them, and Piccolo would zip in and dispatch them. So far it had worked against seven groups, a grand total of fifty-one Demons. The Namek kept expecting the other Demons in the area to get wise and stop attacking but it hadn't happened yet. Either they were stupid, acting on some instinctual bloodlust, or just not paying very much attention to what was going on around them.

He'd just started checking around for another group of Demons to go after when he felt it. He'd picked up Tien's power earlier, as well as that of his opponent, and now he could feel, just faintly, Nova's power as well. It was a bit of a relief to know that she wasn't dead, again, as that would have undoubtedly caused serious problems within the Changeling nation, and thus lead to months worth of headaches for him because of his work in the Sennari.

"Looks like your Queen is back on her feet." Piccolo said, glancing back at the three Changelings with him.

"Told you she'd be up again in no time." said Pulo, smirking.

Piccolo snorted and turned off toward the next group of Demons. He was learning that Frieza hadn't been completely unique in personality. Changeling egos easily rivaled those of any Sai-jin. Still, now that Nova was awake the Demon in the city wasn't even remotely a threat. At her maximum the Changeling would have it severely outclassed. So now he could focus on matters at hand.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Raditz's Group

The three Changelings with him were the fourth, fifth, and sixth strongest of Nova's elites, though they didn't even come close to his base power. It was a fact that Raditz had to admit he liked. It also illustrated just how much beyond the average the Cold family's power had been. None of these three even had as much power in their second forms as any of the Cold Family had reportedly held in their first. Based on what he knew of Changeling power, none of them would even come close to Cold's first form power even if they were in the fourth form.

Still, the three of them were still stronger than the majority of the Sai-jin's Super Elite fighters. A fact that Raditz was putting to good use in their Demon hunting. The area they were currently in was wasteland. Geothermal vents, lava flows, and lots of sulfuric acid pools. The Bad Lands were completely inhospitable to all life on the planet. Things could pass through fine, if they were careful, but nothing lived there.

As such, Raditz and the Changelings could blast the Demons in their hiding places without concern, and that's just what they were doing. He tracked them down with his senses, pointed out the locations, and then the four of them would take turns trying to blast them all in one attack. Tempest, the strongest of the three, had made a game of it, and currently Onis was in the lead with two hundred and seven points, though only thanks to the handicap the Changelings had to compensate for Raditz's superior strength.

"Alright, our next group is just over that way." the Sai-jin said, pointing toward a large jagged rock outcropping about a mile away. "Grando, you're up thi..." He trailed off and turned toward the city, frowning.

"What is it?" asked Tempest, concerned about Nova. Raditz had informed them a few minutes ago of the return of her power at the site of a battle and he was worried something may have happened to her.

"I'm not sure. It feels like that Demon in the city is... it is, it's power is increasing!"

"Should we head back?"

Raditz hesitated a moment and then shook his head. "No. The power has increased a lot but it's still lower than Nova's. She can handle it, we'll stick to our mission out here."

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Senator Vegeta's Group, Saiya City

The Senator hadn't been able to help but notice things hadn't gone according to plan. Of course, plans always tended to come apart when faced with the enemy. Still, he had at least assumed the basic concept would remain unchanged, and it hadn't. Hotaru's group was supposed to be in charge of escorting refugees to the palace for safety, and his group in charge of clearing the city of Demons.

Once he'd sensed the strong Demon power in the area of Hotaru's group, however, that plan had changed. The Demon was too much for him to deal with, almost as powerful as Tien, and so he'd decided to take over evacuations for the time being. They were still clearing out groups of Demons when and where possible but, for the most part, they were getting survivors to safety.

An interesting task, to say the least, when you had three Changelings with you. He'd kept them mostly away from the refugee groups, where and when possible, working as perimeter security to keep Demons away from the groups. Occasionally that wasn't possible and they'd have to be close at hand, and there was always someone in the group that would scream or try and attack one of them. It seemed that, despite Nova's standing ovation, there was still much work to do.

Still, they'd managed to get five groups to the palace already, around forty people. A pace he was quite happy with. They'd already located and rounded up their sixth group, this one the biggest yet at twelve people. Seven of them were Sai-jin and they'd been the vocal ones this group, at the sight of the Changelings, who Vegeta had been forced to leave close at hand due to the high-rise buildings in this part of the city. The other five had simply tried to avoid looking at them.

He was just about to wave the group through the next intersection, after checking with his eyes and senses for any Demons, when he sensed a group of powers flaring up around him, coming from inside the different buildings. None were that large compared to him, but there were at least twenty of them. "Everyone, group together!" he called as he launched into the air and deflected an energy blast away from the group.

He sensed the three Changelings moving into the air as well, and caught a glimpse of Tsunamo kicking an energy blast off into space out of the corner of his eye. He didn't have time to pay attention to what he and the other two were doing, however, as more energy blasts were surging out of the buildings toward their group and he had to rush off to deflect them. Still, it seemed like for each one he deflected six more came charging in.

"Senator Vegeta!" Tsunamo called. "Are there any other people in these buildings?"

Vegeta cast him a moment's glance as he deflected another attack, then smirked and shook his head. "No, there isn't. Alright you three, let's bring them down!"

The Changelings all nodded in agreement and then the four warriors unleashed a volley of attacks at the surrounding buildings. Vegeta used his senses to know where to attack while the others tracked the attack trajectories back to their sources. The detection method mattered little as, within just a few moments, the surrounding buildings had all been leveled.

The Senator was just about to unleash his last blast when he sensed a power behind him that was surging in toward the refugees. He turned to look just in time to see Tsunamo appear between the charging Demon and the three Sai-jins he'd been aiming for, blocking the Demon's fist with his forearm. The Changeling then reached out, pressed his hand against the Demon's chest, and fired a blast of yellow energy clear through him.

Vegeta gave him a nod as he cast his senses around for any further threats. However, it wasn't a local threat he noticed, it was the Demon at the location of Hotaru's group. It's power was increasing. Again. He turned and looked that way and saw a swirling, towering, black and purple tornado of energy about forty blocks away. /It's stronger than Nova now. Hopefully she can still deal with it, because if she can't we're in a lot of trouble. It could wipe out most of the city before Piccolo is able to get back here in time to help./


	59. Blood and Darkness

A/N: So, the library seems to have fixed its firewall issues, as I can now access FFNet again. Sorry for the delay, folks.

Chapter Fifty-nine - Blood and Darkness

Makai, Mazoku Plane, World of the Mazoku

Bardock looked around him as the world came back into view again. Dabura had just teleported the three of them to the Mazoku plane and he was curious about its appearance. It wasn't quite what he'd expected. Somehow he'd thought the place from which the Mazoku ruled would be dark, intimidating, and evil looking. What he found instead was a large open field with a stream near-by and small wispy clouds in a blue sky. It was almost like being back on Earth.

"That's the palace." Dabura said, nodding toward a large black spire in the distance ahead of them. "I can already sense Quietus waiting within, though his power is greatly suppressed at the moment."

Bardock turned his attention that way and soon sensed the power in question as well. It was just over his own Super Sai-jin level. He could also sense a large number of other, smaller, powers in the area. Only a few of them even compared to him at base, most were even lower than that, but there were several thousand of them. There was also one power he recognized as one of the three Supreme Mazoku they'd encountered upon arrival in Makai.

Still, it was the power of Quietus that drew his focus. /This is more like what I expected from the Mazoku./ he thought, feeling the level of evil within the energy. It was darker then Cell's, and far more so than Dabura or Nefaria, though it wasn't as dark as Janemba's had been. /I wonder why that is? You would think the rulers of Makai would be the most evil beings that could exist, but Cell, Quietus, and Janemba all have them beat there./

He pushed that aside for the moment, there were more pressing matters at hand. "So, where am I supposed to get the energy for the Spirit Bomb?" he asked. "I can already feel that there isn't much ambient pure energy around here."

"No, there wouldn't be on this plane." said Dabura. "As it is our home it has the highest concentration of evil energy in the entire realm. Not as concentrated as that of Hell in Shinkai, the Kais are idiots when it comes to dealing with the balance of good and evil, but still more so than the H.F.I.L. has. You will need to tap into the powers located in Purgatory and the Dead Zone to create your attack with."

"Seriously? That's a long way off, I'm not even sure I can make contact down there, and even if I can it would take ages for the power to make the transit."

"We can aid in that." said Nefaria. "This is my Plane, my powers are at their greatest here. And Dabura commands the power of the entire Realm. We can create a direct link between this Plane and the lower two that you can use to draw the energy through."

"Alright then. You set that up and I'll head up and get started. I'm not sure how strong this Quietus guy is, though, so I don't know how much power we'll need."

"Don't worry, he'll need to use his full power to fight me." said Dabura. "Just be sure to give us a sign to get out of the way before you attack."

Bardock grinned. "Worried I'll agree with those in Purgatory and the Dead Zone that they'd be better off without you?"

"Something like that."

"Well, I do, to an extent. But I also understand the need for your existence. The Supreme Kai explained a little about the balance of the Realms when we were on our way to meet you. Taking you guys out would just make things worse, so don't worry. From what the Supreme Kai has said things are bad enough already. Anyway, as for a signal, you know what my ki feels like, it's quite different from yours or that of the Demons around here. Think you can keep a focus on it during your battle, even with it suppressed?"

"Nefaria and I are at our best here." Dabura said. "We can track you with little trouble."

"Alright then, I'll pulse my ki when the attack is ready. Keep a look out for it."

Dabura nodded, satisfied, as he pressed his hands together and closed his eyes. A faint glow of red formed around him for a moment, then moved to just surround his hands. Opening his eyes again he moved his hands apart and a small ball of red light formed between them. Bardock could tell it wasn't ki, there was no energy from it. The Mazoku King shifted his hands then and held the light out toward the Sai-jin.

"Once you touch it and absorb it this magic will link you to the lower realms for about an hour." he said. "That should be enough time for you to make your attack."

"Might be cutting it a little close." Bardock said, reaching out and touching the light. The red light flashed and vanished as soon as he made contact, and he felt a weird warmth flow through him and settle somewhere in the back of his mind. "It took Goku and I nearly a half hour to charge the one we used on Janemba, and it wasn't even finished yet. Still, if this link works as well as you say it might go faster. Just don't get yourselves killed before then." With that he lifted into the air and flew up into the sky, quickly going out of sight.

"In all of my millions of years of existence I never imagined such a situation as this might occur." Dabura said as he lost sight of the Sai-jin. "The Mazoku, relying on a Shinkai Mortal to save Makai."

Nefaria grinned. "They say there's a first time for everything."

Dabura snorted. "Well, let's get to work." he said, lifting off and flying toward the distant spire. "We need to keep Quietus, Neikan, and Aku occupied so they don't notice the attack forming. Something with enough power to kill Quietus would be easily noticed if they're not focused on a fight. Do you think you can handle Neikan and Aku?"

Nefaria frowned as she flew along side Dabura. "Maybe." she said at last. Aku and Neikan were the two strongest Supreme Mazoku, far stronger than she was. "Fighting here in my Plane will help even things out a little. But it's not just their power that will be a problem, they've got a lot more experience than I do as well."

"You don't need to defeat them." Dabura said. "Just keep them busy, and stay alive until the Sai-jin kills Quietus." The two of them pulled to a stop a moment later, only a hundred yards from the palace. Quietus and the two Supreme Mazoku were already floating there waiting for them. "You should have stayed in the Blood Crystal. You'd have lived longer."

Quietus smirked. "You think you can kill me?" he asked. "If you had gotten that much stronger in the last two thousand years you wouldn't have tried to stop my release, or ran away when you failed. Though I have to say, your sudden return to confront me is unexpected. And you seem to have lost these Mortals I heard about."

"They're not lost." Dabura said. "Just busy dealing with other matters. Even you should be able to sense what's occurring in Limbo right now." He was still tracking the powers there as well, and just a moment ago he'd felt the third mortal's power shoot up over that of Malchio's. Likely he was fighting the three Demons there, the strongest of those Quietus had created for his army, to try and rescue the other captured Mortal.

Quietus frowned at him for a moment, and then his eyes widened in surprise. "Those can't be Mortals!"

Neikan and Aku had also sensed them out and were now scowling. "I could kill them." Neikan said. "Even as powerful as they are they are no match for me."

Quietus pursed his lips for a moment, glancing at the two before him, then shook his head. "No." he said. "Leave the Mortals they brought here alone for now. The Kais would not leave Shinkai unprotected, it is likely there is more than one Supreme Kai now. Or perhaps other Mortals of a similar level. Either way, they must be dealt with quickly. Those here are no threat, but those still in Shinkai might be. Neikan, head to the other Realm and wipe out any resistance that's left. Mortal or Kai, I don't care, kill them all."

Neikan grinned. "With pleasure." he said, vanishing.

"Meanwhile, Aku, you deal with Nefaria."

XXX

Makai, Dead Zone, The Path Between Realms

Daikirai pulled to a stop a few feet away from the path between realms and frowned. He couldn't figure why Dabura and Nefaria were back, or why those two Shinkai fighters were with them. That they were doing some sort of counter offensive was obvious, what they expected to achieve with it was not. That those two mortals were beyond anything he'd ever fathomed mortals could reach was quite obvious. But they weren't that impressive in the grand scheme of things. They were stronger than the weakling Nefaria, but no match for anyone else. Especially not Quietus.

"So, why bring them?" he mused, turning around to look back toward where the entrance to Black Skull Path could be found. It was a long ways off, well outside of viewing range, but he knew it's location all the same. He'd followed the powers of Dabura, Nefaria, and the three mortals all the way to and up the path, before making his way back to the path between realms. He had no desire to be surprised by them again. He'd stopped following them after their powers had vanished from Purgatory but now curiosity made him seek them out again.

It was a long reach up to the higher planes of the Realm from where he was. Even though the Dead Zone was infinite in all directions he was still, technically speaking, at the very bottom of the Realm. Even with his ties to Purgatory to aid in reaching that Plane with his senses it took him a few moments to find what he was looking for. And when he did his eyes widened in shock. He could feel two high powers on the Grand Mazoku's world, only one of which he recognized from before. The second one was almost as strong as Nefaria and completely unknown to him.

"One of the two those Demons captured, maybe?" he wondered. "But why would they be fighting one of their own?" He frowned and stretched his mind out a bit further but couldn't find any other powers, not even Dabura, no matter how far he stretched his senses. Though, he couldn't sense beyond Limbo. Which meant that Dabura must have gone higher. Likely to the Mazoku Plane to confront Quietus.

"Bah, let him." he said, turning back toward the path between realms. "Lord Quietus will kill him and the weakling easily enough. That Shinkai Mortal, though... Normally I wouldn't even consider him a danger of any sort but... these Mortals are unusual. And there's the matter of this green red-eyed creature that Lord Quietus saw. I need to find out what that was and if it's related to these Mortals..." he muttered, flying into the path for Shinkai.

XXX

Makai, Limbo, Grand Mazoku's World

Goku quickly ducked under the kick aimed for his head. He went to move behind Vegeta to aim a kick of his own at the other's back but the Sai-jin King's elbow surged down and slammed into the top of his head before he'd even begun to move. His vision blurred for a moment and in that instant Vegeta grabbed the back of his head and dove toward the ground two hundred feet below. There was a thunderously loud and powerful shockwave as he smashed Goku face first into the ground.

Suddenly Vegeta's hand went down into the ground as Goku vanished. The royal reacted in an instant, sending out a burst of ki in all directions. The shockwave caught Goku as he reappeared and knocked him away from Vegeta, who turned toward the power he could now sense and sent a punch charging in for his face. The other just managed to move his head out of the way, and then brought his left leg up jamming his knee into Vegeta's stomach.

The blow was a glancing one, however, as Vegeta had already been dodging. He quickly countered with a kick for Goku's head that the other Sai-jin slipped under before lancing a punch out for his chest. Vegeta deflected it and retaliated with a punch of his own that connected with a resounding crack against Goku's chest knocking the Sai-jin back a few dozen feet. The follow-up blast of purple energy missed, however, as Goku disappeared. He scowled and turned his gaze back up toward the sky.

Goku now floated a few hundred feet above him, hands cupped at his sides with blue energy charging between them. He made no move to counter the building attack, merely stood there waiting. A few moments later Goku thrust his arms down and fired, the stream of blue energy surging at him quickly, and Vegeta scowled. The attack was almost on him when he jumped into the air and lashed out with a kick, knocking it off course. He scowled more as he watched it sail off into the distance for a moment, then turned his gaze back up to his opponent.

"You're not taking this seriously." he said, floating up into the air until the two were eye level. "Stop holding back and fight me!" There was a burst of purple as he suddenly surged in at him. Reaching him a moment later he lashed out with a hard right kick for his head but Goku's arm came up and blocked it. Pulling back he sent a punch toward his stomach but the other slipped around the arm, moved behind him, and slammed his foot into his back.

"I said fight seriously!" Vegeta yelled as he quickly turned around and fired off a blast of black and purple energy. Goku's eyes widened as he saw it coming and barely managed to slip around it. His eyes widened further a moment later, just before Vegeta's energy encased fist slammed into his face knocking him back. The royal charged after him and quickly caught up, thrusting an elbow down into his stomach and driving him down toward the ground three hundred feet below.

Goku regained control of his momentum only a few feet above the ground and quickly veered off, arcing back up toward the other. He still wasn't sure how to handle this. He was worried that if they both went all out in the fight one of them might end up dead as a result, and he didn't know what would happen if they died here. He fired off a punch for Vegeta's head as he reached him, but it was dodged and countered with kick that he just barely dodged in turn.

/The problem is, he's not holding back./ Goku thought, just avoiding another energy encased fist aimed for his head. /Vegeta's giving it everything he has in this, and if I don't do likewise I'll definitely be ending up dead here./ He deflected another punch away from his head and then slammed both open palms into Vegeta's chest knocking him away. "Alright, you want serous?" he said. "Let's see what you've got!"

Vegeta pulled to a stop and smirked as his opponent charged at him. "It's about time, Kakkarotto!" he said, slipping around a kick and then launching an elbow at him. Goku blocked it, countered with a kick that was blocked as well, then ducked under a punch. Before he could do anything more Vegeta smashed his knee into his face. "I will beat you, here and now, once and for all, and right all the wrongs!" he cried, grabbing hold of Goku's foot and then diving toward the world below.

Only ten feet above the ground he came to a stop as he pitched the other Sai-jin down. His other arm then shot down as well and he fired off a blast of purple energy which impacted a second after Goku and exploded, blasting a fifty foot crater in the ground. He turned around and brought his arm up an instant later, just blocking the kick that had been aimed for the back of his head, and scowled.

/Kakkarotto's ability to teleport is seriously annoying./ he thought, as the two of them began trading blows again. /At least he's finally taking this fight seriously. Though he's STILL stronger than I am, even with the power increase I just had, I will settle this, once and for all, here and now! Everything is his fault, defeating him will correct it all!/

Goku reached up and blocked a kick at his side with his arm as he sent one of his own at Vegeta's head, which was also blocked. /Vegeta's power has increased a lot from what I felt from him before, during the tournament./ he thought, ducking under another kick and attempting to punch him in the stomach, but missing as the other dodged around it. /He hadn't seemed to have mastered the first level yet, and hadn't improved the second at all. This Dark Awakening technique must have pushed him to the power limits of both levels. I haven't reached the limit of the second level yet, so I suppose it's not too surprising that even with a lower starting power he's so close to me now./

Goku twisted around a punch and then made a grab for Vegeta's out-stretched arm, but the Sai-jin royal avoided the grab. /Still, I have a definite edge in this fight in terms of speed and power. I could end this with a single well placed full strength hit... if I could actually get close enough long enough to deliver one. He's not letting up at all, even with my speed advantage I'm only just keeping pace with him. He really is giving it everything he has./

His eyes widened a second later as spinning disc of purple ki came surging at his head. He'd just slipped around it when he saw three more coming. He slid around the first, ducked under the second, and then quickly brought his legs up to dodge the third. As he did he he felt a sharp pain in his right arm and glanced that way. The first disc had arced back and just sliced a small gash in his arm. Behind him the other three discs were turning around, readying to make another pass at him as well. /Oh man, it looks like I really don't have a choice, I'm going to have to go all out here or I'm not going to make it!/

XXX

Malus grinned as the Mortal charged at him. He was quite looking forward to finishing the battle he'd started back in Shinkai. Even injured as he was he was positive he could win. He had the power advantage and he knew how the boy fought. He had a lot of power, more power than he'd ever imagined a Mortal could have, but he lacked the heart of a warrior. He didn't fight with all he had, didn't make use of every opening presented to him, and thus gave his opponent the advantage.

The Demon easily slipped around the Sai-jin's fist as it sailed past his head. Reaching out he grabbed his arm just above the elbow, pulled him in toward him, and thrust an elbow out into his face with a resounding crack. He kept a firm grip on the boy's arm even after the blow sent him reeling back, and used it to yank him back in for a second hit. However, the Sai-jin managed to duck under it, just barely, and then lunged up jamming the top of his head into the Demon's jaw.

The blow stunned him and his hold on the arm loosened enough Gohan pulled free. Malus shook his head to try and clear the spots he was seeing, and then grinned. The boy had pulled back a few feet and assumed a fighting stance, but had made no move to attack while he was open. /He's fighting just as he did back in Shinkai. I'd wondered if perhaps concern for the girl would change his style any, but it hasn't. He's still a wimp./

In a flash of red Malus charged in at him again and made as though to fire a punch at his head, but he pulled it at the last second and lashed out with a kick for his right side instead. Gohan had already moved to block the punch and his reaction time to the change of attacks was too slow to stop the kick, so the Demon's foot slammed into his side with a crack. He winced under the blow as he lashed out with hard left hook.

Malus's eyes widened in shock and he moved back quickly, but not quite quickly enough as the boy's fist caught him in the jaw and spun him around. There was a resounding crack a second later as Gohan kicked him in the back and knocked him flying several feet before he could pull to a stop. Turning around he found the Sai-jin still floating in the same place, once again in his fighting stance. The Demon grinned and charged in at him again.

/I have to make this quick./ Gohan thought, as he dodged around Malus's punch. /But I can't risk going all out here. Videl could be badly injured, she's certainly unconscious at the least. If I lose control I could hurt her more... or worse./ He dodged around a kick and then retaliated with a kick to the back of the Demon's head, before pulling back and waiting for the next attack again.

/Of course, there's also dad and Vegeta./ he thought as he flicked his eyes toward where the other two were fighting, now about a half a mile away and thirty feet higher than him. /They don't know where Videl is, a stray attack or something could land on top of her... What do I do?/ He ducked under a kick but before he could counter Malus slammed his knee into his face driving him back. The Demon followed up with an elbow to his back that drove him down into the ground below, blasting out a twenty foot crater.

Gohan groaned as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He'd not actually fought anyone of his own level in ages. Occasional spars with Videl for training, but they never got that intense. Nothing like the training he'd gone through to prepare for the Androids or Cell. He'd known there was still a threat out there, still the matter with Raven and her people, but they hadn't been an imminent threat so he'd allowed himself to try and have as normal a life as possible.

/So while I've gotten significantly stronger over the last seven years I'm out of practice in an actual fight./ he thought with a frown as he got to his feet and then just barely dodged around a kick that had been aimed at the back of his head. He'd almost not sensed Malus nearing him, his father and Vegeta's energies were nearly overwhelming his senses. /Dad's dealing with Vegeta, grandpa's putting a stop to Quietus, that leaves me as Videl's only hope for help./

He slipped into another fighting stance, his eyes narrowing as his mind locked more firmly onto the Demon's ki signature. Its inherently different nature than that of his father or Vegeta made it a little easier to notice even in the midst of their massive powers. If he could keep his focus on that difference he'd be less likely to lose track of it during the fight. /She's counting on me to stop this guy and get her out of here. I can't afford to hold back anymore. Hang on Videl, I'll be there soon./


	60. The Queen of the Changelings

Chapter Sixty - The Queen of the Changelings

Nova groaned as she stirred, full consciousness beginning to return to her. As soon as active thought became possible again her mind stirred quickly and in a matter of seconds she was alert again. She sat up, pushing a large pile of debris off of her as she did. She could hear the sounds of battle near-by and figured it was the Demon that they'd encountered. She didn't feel like she'd been out very long.

Climbing to her feet she spotted Pug laying on the floor not far away. He didn't look injured and she could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, so she turned from him toward the mostly missing wall to the outside. Judging by the fact she didn't see Tien, and the battle outside sounded fierce, she figured he was the one fighting the Demon and doubted the other alien would be of much use in the fight.

/At least I'm not really hurt./ she thought. She could remember the Demon tensing and suddenly unleashing a massive burst of power that had sent her sailing. She'd barely even managed to flare her ki at all to try and cushion the attack with, but apparently it had been enough to keep her from any real harm. She'd only managed that much because of quick reflexes, watchful eyes, and intuition.

Decades of looking over her shoulder for someone trying to kill her for one reason or another had honed her reflexes and taught her what to watch for when looking for attack. A sudden tensing of muscle, a look in the eye, a certain kind of smile, a tone voice, little things that many over looked. She'd also developed something of a sixth sense for picking up on danger over the years, sometimes reacting to things behind her that she couldn't even see.

Reaching the ruined wall she gazed out at the on going battle best as she could currently follow it. Both fighters were moving at speeds beyond her ability to properly follow. She could tell that, at best, the two fighters were even. It also looked as though the Human was at his maximum. At the very least he had four arms and a red aura, so he was likely close to his maximum.

/I'm not sure if I'll be any help or not./ she thought as the red plates on her body began to shift and expand as she transformed. /Just the other day I wouldn't have had a chance in a battle of this level, but after that fruit I might be able to keep up. If Hotaru is right about my power then I may be able to do more than keep up. Only one way to know for sure./

Her transformation finished and she floated out of the building and up into the air, until she felt she was far enough from the building not to damage it further with her power-up. The two fighters came to a halt in their attacks as her cries rang out over the street and her aura flared up as her power climbed. It only took a moment for her to reach her maximum power and her cries faded away. /I doubt I'm strong enough like this, so.../

"Invalesco!" she called, her normal aura vanishing into the flame like aura of her attack. The Demon's eyes widened as she stared at the Changeling and Nova took it as a good sign, quickly charging in. She lashed out with a left punch that caught Gloom in the face and knocked her flying backward through six buildings before crashing into the ground. Nova pulled to a stop, eyes wide, and looked down at her hands.

Her punch had had more effect that she'd expected. She could remember how high a power level the Human had displayed during his fight with the young Sai-jin Prince. While she knew she was stronger than Cold now she hadn't expected to be all that much stronger. Certainly not so much so that she could so easily harm an opponent that Tien was only apparently even with, even with the Invalesco. And yet, she had, she had knocked the Demon away with ease.

"Good to see you up and about again." Tien said, catching her attention.

Nova gave him a nod as she looked up from her fist. "If I'd been a little faster I wouldn't have been knocked out at all."

"I'm surprised you even managed to react. I only did because I sensed her power spike, you didn't have that advantage."

"I spent over a century constantly on the watch for someone loyal to Cold, who had somehow learned of my heritage, to come and try to kill me." she said. "I learned to pick up on subtle clues as to someone's inten..." she trailed off there as a sudden flash of red, a thundering crack, and massive explosion occurred at the location she'd knocked the Demon to, destroying several near-by buildings.

A moment later Gloom flew back up into the air, stopping at the same level as Nova and Tien, frowning. The Demon raised her arm up into the air and it began to glow black and purple. Then, suddenly, she brought it down like she was chopping something. "Darkness Fissure!" she cried. The wave of black energy charged toward the two of them and they dodged to either side around it as it cut cleanly through everything in its path.

Nova arched an eyebrow (well, the ridge, since Changelings have no hair) as she watched the attack speed by. Turning back toward Gloom she brought her right arm up and cupped her hand, a ball of spinning red ki quickly forming. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching it at the Demon. Gloom scowled, ki flowing down her right arm. As the attack reached her she let out a cry and swatted it away, off into the sky.

"This wouldn't be happening if I hadn't been created from such a poor base." Gloom said, still scowling. "The Mortal those Demons used was too weak. If it had been one of you, instead, I could probably take on even the Grand Kai. No matter, it's not like I don't have options." She closed her eyes then, tilted her head back a little, and her aura faded away. Nova and Tien glanced at each other as they watched wisps of white something, and streams of purple energy, flow from the air around them into the Demon's body. And then Gloom's power began to increase.

"What's going on?" Nova asked.

The Human shook his head. "I'm not sure what she's doing, but her power is increasing quickly."

Nova turned her focus back toward Gloom, bright up her right arm, and cupped her hand. She had no intention of just letting this Demon gain more power. She had no real idea of the difference between them and didn't want to risk the other becoming stronger than her. /And after all of this is over I've got to have someone teach me to sense powers./ she thought. /It's a very handy skill./

There was a spark of red in her hand, and then a ball of spinning red ki formed. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching it at the Demon. It crossed the distance quickly but, before it made contact, it suddenly exploded. "What?" Nova wondered, as she saw it. She hadn't seen the Demon launch any sort of counter attack. Suddenly there was a flash of red light from Gloom and the swirling white smoke and purple energy vanished. She didn't look any different to the Changeling but based on soft curse from her ally she knew she'd gotten quite a bit stronger.

"What are we up against now?" asked Nova. "How much stronger is she?"

"Her power doubled." Tien replied. "She's still not quite as strong as you but this is out of my league."

Nova nodded and, not waiting for the Demon to make a move, charged in to attack.

Tien frowned as he watched Nova go on the attack. Despite all of the power he'd gained this was still happening. He was stronger than Frieza had been, stronger than the Trunks or Sakura of the future when they'd come back and killed Frieza and his father, in fact he was nearly equal to the power Goku had, as a Super Sai-jin, back when he'd first returned from space. The difference was so small it wouldn't matter in a fight.

And yet he kept finding himself outclassed by the enemy forces. He'd only been on par with the revived Slug and Sanil, and severely outclassed after they'd fused. Even more than he was here. He'd also sensed the five Demons the others had fought at the arena, while he was helping Piccolo against Slug, and they had all been stronger than him as well. Then Cell had returned and even at full power he'd not have been any help there. And now this.

Sure, the low level Demons, the ones that made up most of the attack force, he could deal with. But the rest? He had a level of power now that, just twelve years ago, he'd never even dreamed possible. A power that, back then, would have been the greatest in the galaxy. He was one of the strongest around, and far stronger than Yamcha or Krillin, but still not much when compared to the constant threats, or the Sai-jins.

/I just can't seem to keep up with them./ he thought. /Goku's always been better than me, but at least we were close at the 22nd Budokai. Now, though... the gap between us keeps growing wider and wider. Gohan, Vegeta, Videl, and even Raditz are all growing faster than me. Hotaru, too. Their normal power is greater and they have transformations more powerful than mine, and so the gulf between us has gotten larger and larger./

He looked down at his clenched right hands as he relaxed and his body shifted back to its normal form. /I felt the limits of my power in the battle with Slug. In the current setting that power would only be effective against Piccolo or Raditz, the others are all already well beyond that. Is that level really my ultimate limit? As far as I've come, as much as I've pushed myself, is that where my growth will end? Is constantly falling further and further behind the others all that's left for me?/

He sighed as he floated down to land beside Hotaru. /I can't accept that. I wont./ he thought as his feet touched the ground. /When this is over I'll look for something more. There HAS to be something more. Some way for me to catch up, some way to close the gap, some way to increase my limit./

While Tien was musing Nova and Gloom were continuing their fight. The two had locked into a close range flurry of punches, kicks, blocks, and dodges as they each tried to land a solid blow on the other. So far in the last two minutes the closest either had gotten was Nova brushing her knuckles against the side of Gloom's head as the Demon dodged a punch. The rest had all been avoided or blocked.

/I'm having trouble fighting at this level./ Nova thought, quickly moving around a kick, a punch, and then two more kicks. She countered with a punch of her own that was blocked, slipped around another punch, and fired off a series of kicks that were dodged. She was holding her own, but so was the other, and she wasn't sure this exchange would ever see either of them succeed. She may have gotten closest so far, but only once, and not nearly as close since.

/I'm not used to moving nearly this fast or having this much force behind my movements. I'm throwing off my own balance with each attack as the force of the swings unexpectedly pulls me in its direction. I'm also putting too much energy and motion into my dodges, going too far out of the way and missing good striking opportunities while I correct my positioning. Luckily for me, she seems to be having the same problems, so we're balancing out. For now./

She knew it wouldn't last. Eventually one of them would either get lucky or break the current flow. An energy attack, dodging completely away from the fight, something. The only reason she had yet to do so was worry she'd over move on that as well and leave herself open to attack. She figured it likely the Demon held the same concerns. Either that or she was less interested in achieving victory than she was in just fighting. Either was possible given the situation.

/But I want, I NEED, to win./ she thought, ducking under a kick and then launching her own that was deflected. The motion threw her further off balance but she recovered from it at the same time the Demon recovered from her imbalance caused by the block and blocked the kick aimed at her head with a raised arm. Nova thrust out her other fist in an apparent punch and Gloom moved to dodge it, but then her hand opened and red energy quickly gathered and burst forth.

The blast hit the shocked Demon dead in the face and Nova quickly took advantage of the opening, lunging forward and slamming a fist into her stomach, kicking her in the side of the head, and then smashing an elbow back and down into her neck driving her toward the ground below. She was still a few feet from hitting when she suddenly vanished, fading out of sight as though disolving into the air itself.

There was a loud crack at almost the same instant as the Demon's foot impacted the back of Nova's head and drove her forward. /Teleportaton?/ the Changeling wondered as she quickly spun around and blocked an incoming punch. /Definitely too fast to be just speed, her foot hit before the image of her in front of me had even finished fading. And I felt... something odd when it happened./ She deflected a kick and countered with an energy blast launched from her mouth.

Gloom reacted faster this time and, once again, disolved away into nothing. Nova reacted quickly this time as well, having known to expect it, and sent out burst of ki behind her as soon as she noticed her enemy fading. The minor shockwave caught the Demon and pushed her back slightly, forcing her punch off course just enough it missed hitting the Changeling's back. Nova turned quickly and lashed out with a kick catching Gloom in the temple with the heel of her foot and knocking her several feet to the side.

/There was that feeling again./ Nova mused. /What is that? It's somewhere in my lower brain, I think. Some sort of tingling pull./ As she thought this she also slid in closer, pulled back her left arm, and then shot it forward slamming her fist into Gloom's stomach, doubling the woman over her arm. A moment later there was a flash of red and a loud crack as the Changeling fired a point blank blast of energy into the Demon's abdomen. The explosion knocked Gloom flying upward a few dozen yards before she suddenly dissolved again.

/And again./ Nova thought, dodging quickly to the right as soon as she felt the odd sensation in her mind. As a result Gloom's kick missed wide and the Changeling moved around behind her easily and slammed a knee into her back, driving her forward. /What is that? Should I down shift if she tries it again? Is that wise in a battle? My higher brain is far better suited to fighting than my lower, even with all the training I've done, but I might be able to figure out the feeling if I shift./

Gloom flipped around in the air and scowled. She couldn't believe she was having so much trouble, even if the other woman was slightly stronger than her still. Still, it wasn't anything she felt she couldn't handle. Thus far she'd restrained herself from using her more powerful abilities, wanting a good fight out of this. A long battle that would give her plenty of opportunity to inflict lots of instances of pain.

As that wasn't panning out as hoped it was time to change things up, go for the big attacks and inflict a lot of pain all at once. If it overloaded the Mortal's system and killed her, well that would be too bad. Gloom smirked and licked her lips. /Hopefully she has a high pain tolerance./ she thought. /So I can keep her screaming for a long time. I've yet to make anyone scream and that's no good. I must hear the screams of Mortals! Taste their delicious pain!/

She pulled both of her arms back as black and purple energy flared to life in her palms. "Come, Mortal, enough fun and games." she said. "It is time to make you scream and bleed, time for me to feed!" She thrust her arms forward, bringing her wrists together and merging the balls of energy. "Darkness Wave!" The energy balls swelled up and then a suddenly a wave of black and purple energy, fifty foot across, was suring through the sky.

Nova's eyes widened and she quickly moved to the right, but realized almost at once that the distance between them was too small. There was no way she'd get around the attack before it reached, so she stopped and curled up into a ball. The wave arrived a second later and swelled as it hit her and continued on for a few more moments, before Gloom finally let up. The Demon was scowling as she ended the attack, however.

Nova uncurled from her defensive position and let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure her hastily errected ki barrier would hold against the attack, but it had. Keeping it up had tired her some but she'd escaped any physical harm, and figured that was more than good enough given the situation. The attack could have easily left her badly injured, especially considering the strain it had placed on her ki field.

Down on the ground Tien and Hotaru were watching the fight closely. "She's good." Hotaru said as Nova blocked Gloom's Darkness Wave attack.

Tien nodded. "Yeah, but I hate not being any help. I could hit her with a full powered Tri-beam, probably kill her with it, but that's only if she didn't teleport out of the way..."

"At least you're in shape to help." Hotaru said, frowning. She'd felt some of her strength return since they'd arrived on scene but knew it wasn't nearly enough. It had been quite a while since using the Genkai Toppa and still she hadn't recovered. /Looks like that move truly is a last resort./ she thought. /The recovery time is too severe. If it doesn't defeat the opponent it'll defeat you instead./

Up in the air Gloom's scowl faded. /Fine./ she thought. /If normal attacks wont work, I've got others./ She brought her arms up in front of her and crossed them over her chest, clenching her hands into fists, and began to quickly chant words in a language unknown to the Changeling. She didn't need to know the words, however, to realize the Demon was going to use magic, and to know that that was bad. Magic had its own rules set apart from those of ki. The Demon could easily injure, or kill, her with the right spell.

As such she quickly thrust her right arm foward, hand open. "Flamma!" she cried as red energy flared in front of her hand and then a stream of it surged toward the Demon. The energy beam only went a few feet before the air around it ignited into a blue-white inferno surging toward its target. It missed, however, as Gloom suddenly dissolved and vanished. Nova once again felt that odd sensation but pushed it aside as she looked around for some sign of her opponent. She spotted her a second later floating off to her right, still in the same position, and still chanting.

/She's just going to dodge anything I throw at her with that odd teleportation of hers./ Nova thought. /I'll try the downshift, then. Maybe it'll give me some edge when she does it./ With that she shot in at the Demon in a burst of multi-colored ki. As she charged she felt the sensation start and quickly pulled to a stop and shifted control of her body from her higher mind to her lower.

As she did so the dissolving Demon re-solidified and she saw her move out of the position she'd taken for casting the spell and fly off toward another location. /What is this?/ Nova wondered. /Is she not teleporting? If not, then what is it she's been.../ Her thoughts trailed off as she spotted one of the SDF recruits standing down on the street and not moving. Glancing over at Tien and Hotaru showed that they, too, were motionless. /What the...?/

She felt the sensation fading again and shifted her higher mind back into control as she turned to face Gloom who was, once again, motionless and chanting. /This is bizarre. What is going on? Is she some how freezing everything around her? I remember hearing Guldo could stop time.../ She shook her head. /No, it can't be time she's stopping, shifting minds wouldn't... That's it!/

The Changeling smiled as the realization came to her. She charged toward her opponent again, pulling back a fist to attack with. Once more the sensation started, but this time she didn't stop in her charge, just shifted to her lower mind. Gloom shifted out of her casting stance and started to turn away, but then noticed something unexpected. Her opponent was still surging toward her! Her eyes widened in shock a second before Nova's fist slammed into her face.

"What the...!" Hotaru cried, eyes widening. Nova had just dissolved right along with Gloom, and then both of them appeared with a thunderous crack as the Demon went surging toward one of the few buildings still standing in the area. "Did... she just use the same teleportation technique?"

"I'm not sure..." Tien said as Gloom pulled to a stop only inches from hitting the building. The Demon blurred and dissolved again, and so did Nova. At the same instant there was a loud bang from off to their left and looking that way they found Gloom blocking a kick from Nova that had been aimed at her head.

"That's not going to help you against me anymore." Nova said, smiling.

"This is impossible!" Gloom growled. "How are you able to move!"

"I caught on to your little trick." she said, as the two drifted away from each other once more. "So now it wont work on me, I can counter it."

"It's impossible not to be affected!" Gloom cried.

"Let me give you a little biology lesson. Changelings have two separate, distinct, minds. A higher mind, where our consciousness resides, and a lower base mind that is instinct driven. We have the ability to switch control of our bodies between the two, and I have trained both of my minds to the extent I can put my lower mind in command and still use some of my higher mind functions, filtered through it.

"In other words, when you use whatever you use to suppress the consciousnesses around you I can shift control of my body to my lower mind, use it to filter my higher thoughts, and, in so doing, shield my consciousness from your efforts. Which means that move is now worthless. Even if you use it on me I can still keep fighting.

"I'm not sure how you do it but I suppose it doesn't really matter." she said as she reached up and pressed a hand against the side of her neck, tilted her head, and popped her spine, relieving some of the built up tension. Her body was starting to feel the effects of her prolonged use of the Invalesco.

Gloom scowled. /These Mortals are beginning to annoy me. She's stronger and faster than I am, and now she can counter the one edge I had. There's no way she'll give me the time to use one of my stronger spells. I guess that leaves me only one choice, but first I have to make an opening. I'm open to attack in the first few moments and I know from using Soul Absorption that she'll not wait./

The scowl vanished from her face and she smirked. /And then, at last, I will make her scream in agony, and I shall feast upon her pain, blood, and fear!/ With that thought she lunged toward Nova, pulling back her right arm as she flew. The Changeling Queen decided to do like wise, and charged in as well, pulling back her own right arm. The two met a moment later, fists impacting with each other in a thunderous bang.

Gloom quickly turned on the spot, her tail lashing out and catching Nova by surprise, slamming into her side and knocking her away. With her opponent momentarily dealt with the Demon brought her arms up in front of her and placed her palms together. Hotaru's eyes widened as she saw the position, it was one she recognized from earlier in the day. As the wind suddenly picked up and the black wisps of smoke started in toward Gloom Hotaru turned her focus toward the Changeling Queen.

"Nova!" she called up as the woman pulled herself to a stop again and looked down. "You have to stop her, she's going to increase her power again! This is the same thing Angel did that made her stronger than Vegeta!"

Nova frowned and scowled as she turned her focus back toward Gloom. /I heard about that battle. From just over Gohan's level to well over the Sai-jin King's power. An increase like that in this battle would be... unpleasant./ She shook that off and quickly charged twin balls of red energy in each hand, and then pitched them toward the Demon, who was now hidden inside a swirling black and purple twister. The energy never got closer than about two feet, the raging winds in the area caught hold and pitched them into different directions.

/It's all I can do not to get sucked into that thing./ Nova thought. /It's probably way too dangerous to attack physically... and energy attacks can't get through. I guess I have no choice but to hope I can deal with whatever power she gains from this./

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Piccolo's Group

Piccolo stood on a small rock outcropping near the summit of a small, steep, mountain. The three Changelings with him stood behind him scanning the area around them with their eyes. Piccolo doubted they'd spot anything notable, not when his senses couldn't find anything. The four of them tore through a good twenty groups of Demons, somewhere near two hundred individual Demons in total, since arriving up here.

About five minutes ago he'd noticed the power that first Tien, and then Nova, was fighting against had started to increase. As he noticed that he also noticed several of the near-by Demon powers vanish. He hadn't been sure what exactly had been happening, but he knew he hadn't liked it. So he started working his way back toward the city with his team, just to be safe.

The closer they'd gotten to the city the fewer and fewer Demons they met, even though it had been thick with them on the way out. It seemed that whatever had happened to some of the Demons out where he had been had happened to a lot more of them in closer to the city. He could still sense plenty of them in and around the city limits, though none were within six miles of the small mountain he and the others were on.

He'd decided to stop here for a little while to give the Changelings a chance to rest. He hadn't told them as much, as he figured they'd complain, but he could tell they needed it. While they'd been getting their strength back he'd checked out things more thorughly in the area and the city. Nova's opponent was, by far, the strongest enemy left now. Getting back to the city from his current location would only take about twenty minutes, and he was tempted to do so to help the Changeling Queen deal with the threat.

She was the stronger of the two but, by the feel of it, the battle was fairly even just the same. He figured she could likely win, and even if she didn't Tien was still alive and close-by. She'd at least wear the opponent down considerably in the fight, giving the Human the chance to finish things. So he wasn't needed, which was the only reason he wasn't rushing off.

There still remained plenty of Demons, at least a thousand he could sense, in the area his group was to search. The Demon in the city had its hands full dealing with the Changeling Queen so it wasn't a threat to the average person. The ones out here, however, were free to hunt down those who had fled from the city after the invasion began. They'd already located a few such groups while hunting down the Demons. Apparently not all Demons had gone into hiding, some were still trying to kill those on the planet that they could.

The powerful Namek sighed and started to turn away from the distant city. He'd have to leave the fight up to Nov... "What!" he cried, turning his gaze back that way again. The Demon's power had just started increasing again. In the distance he could faintly see what looked like a dark purple glow, right about where he sensed the Demon.

"What is it?" one of the Changelings asked.

"The Demon's power is increasing again... and it's exceeded that of Nova's." He cast his gaze around the area, and his senses too. None of the Demons between here and the city would be a threat to the Changelings with him. "Listen up, I'm heading back at full speed. Nova was only fighting evenly with her before this power-up, I think she's going to need the help. You can either stay here and keep looking for Demons with your eyes or make your way back to the city as well."

"What about the one with the Queen?" asked another. "I heard she was the strongest here."

"Hotaru." Piccolo said, nodding. "She is, but her power is down at the moment from over exerting herself earlier." He shook his head. "It doesn't feel like she'd be any help at all right now. Anyway, decide what you're doing and do it. I'll find you again after I deal with this." With that he lifted into the air, his green aura flared to life around him, and he shot off toward the city.

XXX

Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Outside the Store

Nova flew back several more feet from the swirling twister of black and purple to try and get outside its pull a little more. At the moment she was really wishing she had some sort of scou... Her eyes widened and she turned her gaze back toward the store this had all started in. In a flash of color she charged toward the building and through the open wall. It only took a moment for her to locate the downed alien she sought, still unconscious.

Moving over to him she removed the scouter he had on. He and the former Sai-jin King had explained the basics of the new technology to her and she figured she could use it. She quickly put it on, having to fight with the position of the holding bands some to better fit the shape of her head and ear. She heard the rush of wind end just as she got the eye piece lined up with her eye and knew the Demon was done with its power-up.

Activating the device she stepped up to the open wall and gazed up at the Demon again, and her eyes widened even before the numbers appeared. Gloom's appearance had changed considerably. The Demon was now only four foot tall, at best, no longer had a tail, and her face was more rat than bat like. She also now had glistening black scales covering every visible inch of her body, and solid red eyes.

As Nova took in the new appearance numbers suddenly appeared in her vision, floating directly over the other woman's head. /Shit./ she thought, hands clenching into fists. /Just over 82 million. What's my reading at?/ She made a few adjustments to the device and a new number appeared, down in the bottom right corner of her vision, and she blinked.

/Almost 76 and a half million?/ she thought in shock. She'd not expected her own level to be nearly that great, even with the Invalesco increasing her natural power by five fold. Now that she had the readings to compare them she wasn't as worried as she had been. The Demon was stronger than her, certainly, but not insurmountably so. And what's more, she wasn't skilled at these high level battles either. So that could help to even things a little.

/At the very least, I still have a decent chance at wining./ she thought as she set the scouter to read just the Demon's level again and floated out into the air and then up to eye level with Gloom.

"Your advantage in our fight is at an end." Gloom said, smiling. "I am now stronger and faster than you and..." she smirked, her lips pulling back to reveal sharp black fangs. "I have gained some new abilities. Soon I will have you writhing on the ground, screaming in delicious agony!" And with that last cry she lunged in at Nova.

The Changeling dodged to the left, noting that Gloom had been right about the speed advantage as she barely avoided the fist that had been aimed at her face. Even so, it wasn't the speed increase, or even the power increase, that now had her concerned. Gloom's abilities prior to this transformation had been problematic enough. She didn't even want to think about what new powers the Demon had acquired now, or how much trouble they might cause her.

/I've got to try and end this quickly./ she thought, just blocking a spinning kick aimed toward her head, then ducking under a punch. She retaliated with an elbow toward the Demon's stomach but Gloom slid back away from it and then lashed out with her left leg. Nova wasn't fast enough this time and the kick caught her in the jaw, snapping her head up and back. Before she had recovered from the kick Gloom slammed both open palms into her stomach, driving her back.

The Changeling Queen quickly came to a stop as she thrust an arm out and fired off a blast of energy that hit the Demon dead in the face. /This scouter is going to make a world of difference now./ she mused. She'd only known where to attack just then because of the scouter tracking the Demon's energy. This new model was impressive indeed, it was now feeding a three dimensional map into the bottom left corner of her vision showing her location relative to the power it was tracking.

/Much more useful than the indicator arrows of the previous models. Left, right, up, or down don't tell you a whole lot, you still have to turn and spot them. With this it takes less than half a second to note exactly where she is from my current position. Nice./ She turned around and lashed out with a kick as Gloom attempted to fly around behind her. The blow connected with a loud crack and knocked the Demon back.

"Darkness Fissure!"

Nova's eyes widened as she caught sight of a black and purple glow form around Gloom's left arm just as she brought the arm up and then down again in a chopping motion. An instant later a wave of black energy surged passed her slicing through everything in its path, missing the Changeling by only a few inches. She quickly moved the left around a second, then to the right to avoid a third, and right again to dodge a fourth.

As she moved to the left around a fifth one she brought her right arm up, cupped the hand, and quickly charged the spinning ball of ki. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching the attack as she dodged a sixth attack. To Nova's surprise the Demon didn't attempt to avoid the incoming attack. Instead she thrust out her left arm and pulled her right back. A second later the Lacero hit Gloom's arm and vanished in a burst of black.

Nova was still recovering from her surprise when she noticed that the attack had reformed in Gloom's other hand and the Demon was now throwing it at her. She moved quickly, flying to the left to get around it while preparing a counter attack... and then noticed that the redirected Lacero was altering course to follow her. She instantly shifted directions, heading down and to her right, but once again the attack changed course to continue pursuit.

Gloom laughed. "It's no use!" she cried. "No matter how much you try and dodge it'll still follow you, it's locked onto your ki. It knows it instinctively, tracking the energy that matches it. It was your attack, after all. So, what do you think, like it? It's one of my new abilities."

Nova scowled as she just managed to avoid being hit by the bladded energy ball. Already it was turning around to come back at her again. /I need to find some way of getting rid of this thing. I can't just trick it into hitting something else, it'll tear right through anything I try to plough it into and just come back for me again./ Her eyes widened as she noted Gloom's location on the mini map was moving toward her again.

She ducked down under the incoming punch at the last second and then thrust her elbow back into the Demon's stomach. /Should have known she wouldn't just let me alone while I tried to avoid this thing. But how do I fight her while still trying to avoid my usurped attack?/ she wondered, blocking a kick and then ducking her head down as the Lacero sped by again.

Then, as she deflected an energy blast away, she got an idea. There was a flash of color as she shot backwards, rapidly moving away from the Demon while also quickly charging a powerful mass of energy between her hands. Her eyes darted around for the pursuing attack again, having lost it momentarily while deflecting Gloom's attack. She spotted it a moment later just finishing its turn and starting back toward her again.

/Alright, this should be enough./ Nova thought thrusting her arms out and firing the attack toward Gloom. At the same instant that she attacked she let the Invalesco fade and mentally crossed her fingers as she followed the spinning energy sphere out of the corner of her eye. And then smirked as the sphere turned and began to chase the blast she'd just launched instead.

Ahead of her Gloom had just caught the energy blast she'd launched and was pushing it, trying to deflect it into the sky. She'd just managed to do so when she caught sight of the rotating ki ball. Her reaction time wasn't quite fast enough in her dodge, however, and the ball grazed her side as it turned to continue following the energy blast off into the depths of space.

"What was that!" Gloom cried, watching the two attacks speed out of sight.

Nova smirked where she floated. "You said it yourself, it instinctively tracks the energy it originated from. I took a bit of a gamble that it would follow only the highest power like itself, pushed a lot of energy into one attack, and then dropped my own power below that. It worked and my redirected attack changed targets. It probably helps that my energy pattern when using the Invalesco is slightly different than my normal pattern, too, so my own output doesn't currently exactly match that of the attack I launched."

Gloom frowned as she turned her gaze back toward Nova. "You are annoying and I am tired of these games." she said. "I want blood, I want pain, I want suffering and screaming! No more holding back, no more trying not to kill you, no more toying around!" she cried out, clenching her hands into fists. Nova raised an eyebrow and readied herself for whatever the Demon was up to next as a black aura flared up around the Demon. "Darkness Torment!" Gloom yelled, thrusting her arms forward and firing off a large orb of black energy.

"Damn!" Nova cried, surging to the left to try and get around the large ball of energy. It was at least a hundred yards across and moving incredibly fast. She knew almost at once that she wasn't going to be able to get out of its path and, after going only a few feet, pulled to a stop and curled into a defensive ball. The attack hit and engulfed her a second later, and then her screams sounded, echoing for blocks through the nearly empty streets of the city.

Gloom smiled. "Yes, scream!" she cried, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "Let me feel your pain! Let me hear your agony! Fill me with your suffering!"


	61. More Than A Demon

Chapter Sixty-one - More Than A Demon

As the world materialized around her again Mikomi glanced about and quickly spotted Pikkon and the dust cloud that concealed the Demon that Zenryou had mentioned. The Grand Kai and Kibito appeared behind her as she took in the sight of the souls being drawn into the cloud and sensed the creature's power increasing within the dust. Soul Eaters were a rare breed of creature, and somewhat dangerous to the general ranks of the afterlives, and the stability of the Realms, due to the power they could gain from the souls they took in.

"The process is already too far along to interrupt." Zenryou said with a frown.

Mikomi nodded. "Unfortunately yes." she said. "Though I doubt he will be much of a threat once the process completes. Soul Eaters can't handle more than twice their own power, he should still be far weaker than I."

Zenryou nodded as Pikkon floated down to join them, the unusual aura that was around him fading away as his feet touched the ground, and a chunk of his power going with it. The Grand Kai made note of that, he'd thought Pikkon's power had been higher than normal. /Some sort of power boosting technique, probably developed to try and keep up with Goku and Bardock./ he thought as the roaring in the dust cloud faded and souls quit surging into it.

It seemed Mikomi had been right, the Demon's power had stopped well short of her own, still considerably less than that of even Kibito's. Much too high for him to deal with, however, which meant he and Pikkon would be sitting this fight out. Not that there would be much of a fight, considering the power difference between the Demon and Mikomi. She would make short work of it, it was weaker even than the Demon, Malus, she'd already disposed of.

At last the dust cloud faded away enough Pikkon got a clear look at the Demon again. "It's power has increased but it hasn't transformed." he said. "What was that it did?"

"This one is a Soul Eater." said the Grand Kai. "It has the power to devour souls and fuse them with itself, thus adding their power to its own. Limited to within double of its own natural power, though, as anything more than that overwhelms the original soul with the personalities of the new ones."

"Their power potential is a problem, capable of upsetting the natural balance and order of a Realm." said Mikomi. "Still, that issue pales in comparison to the damage they cause just through the fusion of the souls they take."

"What do you mean?"

"Those souls eaten and merged with their own." began Zenryou with a frown. "They are lost forever after that. The merged soul is forevermore a singular being, inseparable back to its component parts. Those individuals simply cease to exist from then on, at least as individuals. Which of course also causes balance issues, but it is the destruction of the souls themselves that even the Mazoku find abhorrent."

"Indeed." said Mikomi. "I am surprised that even Quietus would work with one, or that Dabura would allow one to exist at all."

The Demon smirked. "Well, seeing as I'm brand new and all, no one has had much chance to complain about me. I didn't exist at all until just recently, when those Demons made me from one of the Mortals they'd found and managed to capture."

"Made you?" asked Kibito, frowning.

"Dark Ascension?" asked Mikomi. The other didn't respond, but the widening of its smirk told her she was right. This one being a Soul Eater made a lot more sense if it had been born through a Dark Ascension. It was already a fusion of souls to begin with, magically bound together and merged into one new being. Dark Ascension, like its Shinkai counterpart, Light Ascension, was a contingency magic.

Should something happen and all Mazoku, or all Kais, be destroyed, the Ascension magics could be used to forge new ones from chosen mortals. In essence, the spells were similar to the accident that had created Janemba, just more controlled and utilizing the souls of Oni or, as in this instance, Demons, instead of raw energy. It had been used twice before in Makai but was something that had never been done in Shinkai.

Mikomi had considered it several times as a means to replace her lost comrades more quickly, or to get a new Lord of Kais as she knew that no new one would ever come naturally. Muzai was lost, but not truly dead. She'd held off, though, as those created via the spells were not as powerful as those naturally created by the universe, though they were effective enough at helping to keep balance. All of that aside, though, the fact that this being had been created via Dark Ascension meant that it was not, in actuality, a Demon.

A Shinkai mortal had been used as the base but as it had been Demons that empowered the Ascension, and the Dark Ascension spell that had been used, so what had been created was, in fact, a Mazoku. The magic was somewhat unpredictable in nature, granting varied abilities and appearances that did not match with the normal positions, but the created being was a Mazoku all the same.

/All the more reason to dispatch this one quickly./ Mikomi mused. Having extra Mazoku around would disrupt the balance, not to mention she didn't want to give the other time to put any of its special abilities to use. She was also concerned about what possible repercussions there might be to the birth of a Mazoku within Shinkai. The spells were meant to be used in the planes the intended created Kai or Mazoku was to govern, thus granting them influence over that plane.

Which could mean... /Which could mean that this Mazoku has the same abilities as the Supreme Kai intended to administer the H.F.I.L. would have. Problematic in and of itself, even more distressing for its possible implications. First, though, I need some answers./

"How would regular Demons even know how to perform the Dark Ascension spell?" she asked. "I know Makai uses the same system as us." The Light Ascension spell was known only by the Kais and the Judges. There were documents describing it kept at each check-in station, in case all those with active knowledge were lost, but no Oni knew the spell.

Doom shrugged. "Lord Quietus taught it to a few hundred Demons as a means of increasing our power. The intent was to use Shinkai's strongest mortals, turn them into our own warriors, but those plans fell apart when none of Shinkai's best could be beaten, so they made due with what they could."

Mikomi frowned. /What is Quietus thinking?/ she wondered. /The fact that he even knows the spell is odd, he certainly wouldn't have been taught it by any of the Mazoku, not even those who have allied with him, and there's no way he could have read about it without Dabura knowing. But more than that, what could make him teach it to anyone? His intent is to seize the Realms for himself. When we fought him before he went out of his way to try and not kill Shin or I, he knew that balance was important, he only wished to capture and contain us.

/But now he goes and does this, actually intending to create more Mazoku than are supposed to exist? Perhaps he intended to replace the lower Mazoku who have remained neutral, but somehow I don't think that was his plan. He must know that having excess Mazoku would tip the balance, especially with things in Shinkai already off because of too few Kais./ She shook her head and cleared those thoughts out for now. It wasn't important in the current situation, and with any luck Goku and Bardock were about to put an end to whatever his plans were.

For now, all that mattered was dispatching of this problem before it had the chance to spiral out of control. She lifted into the air and charged toward the Mazoku quickly, pulling back her right fist and gathering energy into it. A quick blow and the battle would be over. As she neared, Doom merely smirked and the look in his eyes made her wary. He certainly lacked the power to hurt her, or to survive her attack, but his face seemed to be saying 'I know something you don't' and, she reminded herself, she had to be cautious of any magic he might employ.

With that thought in mind she increased her speed and covered the last fifty yards in an instant. Her arm snapped out, her fist slammed into his chest, and then the energy detonated in a thundering explosion of blue light. She knew at once, before the rumbling of the explosion had even begun to fade, that something was wrong. She could still feel his body against her fist, still sense his ki at the same level as before her attack, still tell that he was standing exactly where he had been a moment ago. Her blow, an attack almost four times stronger than him, had not even fazed him. He'd not so much as flinched.

She pulled back and looked him over in concern. No signs of injury from her attack. Not even a single crack in his scales, or a tear anywhere in his robes. She knew he didn't have the power to resist the blow, she could sense that quite clearly. And yet, somehow, he had. She lunged in again and slammed a kick into the side of his head. It had as little effect as the earlier punch.

"Terrific." Pikkon muttered. "Apparently he's become even more resistant than before."

"Resistant?" asked Zenryou, eyes still locked on the would-be-Mazoku.

The long dead alien nodded. "The blows I landed during our short battle seemed to have less effect than they should have." he replied. "And his seemed to have had greater effect. I thought at first that perhaps his scales were the reason for the resistance to the blows, but that didn't explain his greater than expected strength. It wouldn't explain this at all, either."

The Grand Kai nodded. Pikkon was right, if it were simply a matter of the scales adding extra reinforcement to his defenses it still would not be enough to repel Mikomi's attacks. What was interesting him at the moment was that Pikkon had managed to do damage at all and now Mikomi could not. Sure, the Demon turned Mazoku had since doubled in power, but the power differential between the fighters was greater now than it had been in the previous fight.

"Kibito, let's see if we can give her a hand." Zernyou said, lifting into the air.

The future Supreme Kai nodded and floated into the air to join him, and then both launched in at Doom. The Grand Kai knew his power would not really be enough to hurt him under normal conditions, but these were not normal conditions and so any damage would be welcome. Their opponent watched them charge with the same smug look on his face as when Mikomi had attacked, not that Zenryou had expected any different. He was resisting the assaults of the strongest being in Shinkai, of course he wouldn't worry about the weaker ones.

The two reached him a moment later and Zenryou's foot slammed into his abdomen with zero effect. An instant later Kibito's fist pounded into his face... and his head snapped back from the blow, he lost his balance, and stumbled back a few steps. As Doom recovered all four fighters paused a moment and considered what just happened. Doom was clearly shocked, the three Kais only curious.

Mikomi moved in to attack again, her foot slamming into Doom's back, but still it did nothing to him. This time, however, Doom didn't just stand there. With a growl he turned and backhanded Mikomi, but the blow didn't effect her, either. Zenryou and Kibito charged in again and, once more, the Grand Kai's attack did nothing while Kibito's, a kick to the gut, doubled the other over and elicited a gasp of pain.

Mikomi caught his eye and Zenryou nodded, the two then slipping back away from the battle. "Kibito." she began. "Do what you can against him, Zenryou and I will try and figure this out. Defeat him if you can, if not we'll come up with something."

Kibito glanced her way, nodded, and then charged in again. This time Doom was ready for him and blocked the incoming punch, then countered with a kick that knocked the future Supreme Kai back a few dozen feet. A moment later Kibito ducked under a kick, then came up and slammed an elbow into Doom's jaw lifting him and snapping his head back again. The Kai then quickly moved back as Doom's snake like tail lashed out, sharp fangs snapping closed inches from his face.

As the two of them continued to fight Zenryou caught movement from the corner of his eye and then saw Pikkon floating forward toward the battle once more. The alien had his eyes closed and was clearly focusing entirely on his breathing, keeping it even and the breaths equal in volume. He kept it up for several seconds more, then opened his eyes, clenched his fists, and hunched over. "Hyper Striker, Double Burst!" he called, the odd aura that had surrounded him when the Kais had arrived flaring to life around him once more, and his power quickly doubling.

Doom and Kibito paused and looked over, both sensing the spike in power, and then Pikkon was surging in to join the battle. The Mazoku swerved around a kick from Pikkon but was unable to block Kibito's punch and it smashed squarely into his face. While dazed from the that blow Pikkon spun about and pounded his heel into the other's left temple, spinning him around and knocking him down.

"This is very interesting." Zenryou said, watching the battle closely. It was clear from the few blows landed that Pikkon's attacks were, as he'd suggested had occurred before, doing less damage than his power would indicate they should. Kibito's blows, too, weren't as effective as they should be. In fact, the Kai's attacks were barely more effective than Pikkon's were, despite the fact that Kibito was strongest of the three by a fair amount. What's more, Doom had dodged Pikkon's first attack, clearly expecting it to be effective, when he had not expected Kibito's to be so.

"I'm not sure what is going on here." Mikomi said with a shake of the head. "Those created by the Ascension spells always have unusual and unique abilities, ones not normally present within the Kai or Mazoku ranks. That can be the only explanation for this. But... what that ability is, exactly, I'm not sure. Neither of us could faze him, yet Pikkon and Kibito are able to fight near evenly with him."

"Well, even without some special ability altering things I wouldn't be able to hurt this one anyway." said Zenryou with a frown. "He's got to be near Malchio's power, which is impressive indeed. I hadn't thought the Ascension spells gave this much power, even allowing for the souls he ate. Still, that you couldn't even faze him at almost four times his power, while Pikkon can despite being slightly weaker than him..."

"A seeming paradox." agreed Mikomi. "One that perhaps we must unravel if we wish to defeat him."

Pikkon darted around a kick and then surged in, slamming both open palms into Doom's back while Kibito came at him from the front and smashed his knee into his chest. Doom grunted in pain and anger as he quickly thrust his elbows back, smashing both of them into Pikkon's stomach. At the same time he rocketed his head forward, headbutting Kibito. He then shot up into the air before coming back down and ramming his elbows into the tops of their heads, driving them down toward the ground.

Kibito recovered before impacting the surface, but Pikkon slammed into the ground with tremendous force, blasting a massive impact crater. The future-Kai cast a glance at the rising dust cloud before charging back up at his opponent. Doom slipped around his kick, blocked his punch, and then countered with a punch of his own, but it too was blocked. He was readying another punch when a voice sounded from below.

"Hyper Flash Attack!"

Suddenly Doom was surging upward and Pikkon floated in front of Kibito, where the Demon had been an instant before. The long dead alien watched his opponent right himself, about thirty feet away, and frowned. Whatever caused this monster's resistance, it was absurdly annoying.

The difference in their powers was miniscule, the Demon's advantage in strength so small it shouldn't have made any difference. But it did, because of whatever strange magic he employed. Pikkon considered taking it up another notch, attempting a triple burst, but wasn't sure that was wise.

While it would put him on a level of power like that of Kibito the strain of each higher level of the Hyper Striker was exponentially greater than the one before it. The Double Burst doubled the strain of the standard level, a Triple Burst would quadruple the strain of the Double Burst. Meaning strain eight times greater than the standard form of the move. It wouldn't kill him, obviously, but it could make him lose power at excessive speed, or knock him out of the fight.

The Hyper Striker was still an imperfect creation, an unfinished technique. It probably wasn't wise to push it too far. /So we'll save it as a last resort./ he decided, just as Doom charged back down at him and Kibito.

The two dodged to either side, avoiding the Demon's flying kick, and then the three of them locked into a barrage of attacks as they each fought for supremacy in the battle.

"I think I'm starting to put this together." Zenryou mused.

"Then you are doing better than I." said Mikomi. "I still haven't figured out what could cause this. What's your theory?"

"Concentrations." replied the Grand Kai simply. "You and I have much higher purity concentrations than Pikkon or Kibito do. This manufactured Mazoku seems to have some sort of purity negation factor."

"Hmm, plausible." agreed Mikomi as Doom blasted both of his opponents away, then charged at Pikkon and slammed an elbow into his stomach, driving him back down into the ground, before turning to block a kick from Kibito. "And perhaps an added edge over those of purity as well, explaining why he's doing so well against these two."

"Indeed. And why he assumed he could attack and harm you."

"Now the question is, what do we do to compensate? How do we counter and overcome such a power?"


	62. Fury

Chapter Sixty-two - Fury

Goku dodged to the right around a hard punch from Vegeta, then dropped down under one of the energy discs, slid left to avoid a second disc, then came up with a knee aimed at the other Sai-jin's gut. But Vegeta thrust an arm down, smacking his open palm against Goku's knee and deflecting the blow. Then he countered with one of his own and Goku barely managed to avoid it. At the same instant he felt a sharp pain in his left arm and jerked back as one of the four energy discs nicked him.

/Keeping up with Vegeta and the four energy discs going to be impossible over the long run./ he thought, ducking under another disc just in time to get kicked in the face, knocking him back a dozen feet. As he recovered from the blow his eyes widened in shock and he quickly dodged right around two discs that had been aiming for his head.

/Alright, I've had just about enough of those things!/ he cried mentally, shooting into the air higher. Below him, both Vegeta and the four purple discs followed. At the moment, he was only concerned with the latter. After about a hundred yards he felt he'd put enough distance between himself and the discs and came to a stop.

They were trailing about forty feet behind Vegeta. The Sai-jin royal would reach him first, about two seconds ahead of the attacks. Plenty of time. Goku braced himself and waited as Vegeta closed the distance. Then, as the royal reached him, he dropped down, lashed out with a hard kick to the abdomen, then spun around behind him and slammed a knee into his back driving him off.

With the Sai-jin dealt with, at least for the moment, Goku turned his attention to the energy discs. They were only a second away now, and he quickly pulled in all of his energy. The discs were only an inch from slicing him into bits when he let out a scream and a burst of power that hit, warped, and then shattered the ki discs.

"Better." he said, nodding to himself as he turned to face Vegeta again. The two floated there, staring at each other, for a few seconds, and then both vanished at the same instant as they charged at each other at high speeds. They met less than a second later, both lashing out with hard right jabs, their fists impacting in each other with a thunderous crash, the shockwave from the blow blasting out over the planet below and scattering the dead warriors of Makai hundreds of yards away.

"You won't win, Kakkarotto." Vegeta growled as he launched a punch with his other arm, but Goku caught and held it. "I will prove I am the greatest!"

"We'll see about that." replied Goku, pulling his head back and then rocketing it forward, delivering a powerful headbutt. The blow knocked Vegeta back and Goku charged in, smashing his left fist into his stomach, then his right into the royal's face, and following that up with a kick to the back of the head. He attempted another blow, a kick to the back, but Vegeta slid to the side and the blow missed.

And then the royal's arm came down, his elbow locking around Goku's ankle. Vegeta pulled and turned, pitching his opponent into the distance, and then thrust an arm out toward him, golden energy flaring to life in front of his palm.

"Take this, Big Bang Attack!" he roared, firing the energy ball just as Goku righted himself. The attack reached him, then sped on harmlessly through the sky behind him as he vanished. Vegeta growled in frustration and released a burst of ki that knocked Goku back as he appeared behind him.

"Damn you, Kakkarotto!" Vegeta growled, turning to face him and clenching his hands into fists. "Even now, with my full potential unleashed, you're still stronger than me. Even at my best, you are better, and I wont HAVE IT!" With that he thrust both arms forward unleashing a massive wave of purple and gold energy.

Goku reached out and caught the blast, which was far stronger than he'd expected for something so hastily done, and with some effort he deflected it into the sky. As the energy blast sailed away Goku lowered his gaze to Vegeta again and blinked in surprise. The Sai-jin had his hands up as though in prayer, the same thing he'd seen Maku do earlier, before becoming stronger.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." he said, as black smoke began to swirl around Vegeta. He felt the suction a moment later, and then the darkness erupted into a twister.

XXX

Malus smirked as he charged at his opponent. The Shinkai Mortal was powerful, certainly, but he was also weak. His reluctance to fight, to take advantage of every opportunity offered in battle, made him a pathetic fighter. As he lunged in at Gohan once more, aiming a punch to his head.

Suddenly, Malus's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a leg sailing for his face, the jab having been a feint. He tried to duck under the kick, but his shock dulled his reactions and the blow landed with a resounding crack. As he was knocked backward Gohan charged after him and smashed his knee into the Demon's stomach that doubled him over, and then landed a double handed axe-chop to his back, driving him down seventy feet into the ground.

Though stunned by the blows, the Demon retained enough sense to roll to the side within two seconds of landing, and the follow up energy blast missed a direct hit. The explosion, however, was powerful enough to still catch Malus and knock him thirty feet away, skidding along the ground and gouging out a trench the whole way.

He stood a little unsteadily, disoriented by the sudden change of pace, but turned just in time to avoid a charging kick to the head. Stepping around the surging Sai-jin, sliding behind him, he thrust out an arm and fired off a blast of energy. But the Shinkai warrior turned just before it hit, back handing the blast away from him and firing his own.

Malus growled, deflected the incoming attack, and then lunged in again. The two locked into a barrage of close range attacks, blocks, and dodges that Malus soon found himself on the losing end of. For every attack he managed to dodge or block, five others got through, and for each he managed to land, seven others were blocked or dodged.

/What... what's going on?/ he wondered, taking a glancing punch to the side of his head. /His entire fighting style has changed. It's not just the sudden interest in capitalizing on openings, it's everything. The way he moves, the way he reacts, the kinds of attacks he's using./

He surged backward an instant later to avoid an attempted point blank ki blast to the chest, then just barely managed to avoid a knee to the face. /I have the power advantage but I can barely keep up, now. He's clearly had a lot more experience fighting at these higher levels of power than I, and his new found ferociousness is pushing me past my limits./

He brought an arm up, quickly blocking a kick to the head, then countered with a knee to Gohan's stomach, followed by an elbow to the side of his head that caused him to stumble and fall, the first solid blows he'd landed in at least five minutes. Panting, Malus took a few steps back from the downed Mortal, who was already climbing back to his feet, and tried to catch his breath.

"You're not doing so good out there, Malus." Akuhei said, laughing.

"He's completely changed fighting style." retorted Malus. "I wasn't expecting that."

"If I'm going all out I'm going to use the style I know best." said Gohan. "And that's not dad's style, it's the combined style I learned from Piccolo and grandma." With that he charged in at Malus again and the demon, still breathing hard, quickly thrust his arms out and released a massive burst of energy knocking him back.

"A little help out here would be appreciated." growled Malus, glancing over at the others.

"But you've been doing so well." Akuhei said, grinning and squealing. "But, if you really can't handle one Shinkai mortal..." Still laughing Akuhei floated over to join him. "Come on Paine, let's give him a hand."

Paine glanced at him, then at Gohan who had recovered from Malus's earlier attack and was currently watching them all warily, then up into the sky where Goku and Vegeta were little more than specks of light fighting at levels she never dreamed of. After a moment she lowered her gaze and shook her head.

"No." she said. "I'm staying out of this one."

Akuhei snorted. "Fine. You always were a coward. Malus and I can handle this ourselves."

"I'll lend a hand." said Malchio, walking out to join the two demons. "This is the probably the last chance I'll ever have at a good fight, and the only chance I'll get to kill a Shinkai mortal."

Gohan scowled, looking at his two new opponents. Akuhei was even stronger than Malus, stronger than Vegeta had been. The other one, the Grand Mazoku, was weaker than him, but not by a large amount. Plus, he'd have experience at high level fighting, which meant he'd probably be more challenge than Malus had been.

/And Dabura mentioned something about Mazoku being at their best in their planes./ he thought. Seeing as this was Malchio's world... he had a feeling things just got a lot harder. /I don't have time for this, I still haven't been able to sense Videl./ he thought sourly.

He shook it off, however, as he lunged in at the three opponents. He lashed out with a hard kick to Malchio's head, knocking the Grand Mazoku aside, and then turned and smashed a knee into Malus's stomach. Before he could move again to attack the other Demon Akuhei kicked him in the back of the head.

He stumbled forward a step but quickly regained his balance, rotated, and backhanded the charging Akuhei with a loud crack. By then, however, Malchio and Malus had recovered and the pair charged him, forcing him on the defensive. As he dodged and blocked their attacks Akuhei surged in and joined them, and it was all could do to keep up.

/Looks like I was right, though./ he thought, ducking under a kick from Akuhei and blocking a punch from Malchio. /The Grand Mazoku's giving me more trouble than either of the Demons, despite being weaker than all of us. His short height isn't helping, either./ he thought, as he tried to kick the Grand Mazoku but was dodged. /Makes for a smaller target./

Gohan ducked under a punch from Akuhei and managed to slip between him and Malus, getting behind the two Demons. Quickly he thrust his feet out, slamming them into the Demons' backs and driving them away. Turning, he fired a kick at Malchio's legs but the Grand Mazoku blocked it. Without hesitating Gohan lifted off the ground, twisted, and lashed out with his other leg smashing his knee into the side of the short man's head.

With that done he took to the air, going up about forty feet before turning to locate his enemies again. Fighting three on one like this, he'd need the extra room to move. /Though what I need more is to knock one of them out of the fight./ he thought. /But if I put enough power into one attack to do that, it would put me at a disadvantage against the two left./

He braced himself for the fight to resume as the three charged up at him from below, but all of them came to a stop at the sound of a loud roar above them, and the accompanying increase to Vegeta's energy. The four turned their gazes up and to the north east, to where Goku and Vegeta were fighting about five hundred feet above them. Gohan could see his father, but Vegeta was lost inside a twister of black smoke and energy.

/That's the same thing Angel did!/ he thought in shock. Then he swallowed as it ended. /He's... stronger than dad, now. Just barely./

/How did he use Darkness Infusion?/ Malchio wondered, as he watched the twister vanish. /That ability has to be taught, and I didn't teach it to him./ He scowled, but shook his head. It didn't matter, the man was now stronger than his opponent. After these fights were over it'd just make him an even greater gift to Quietus.

XXX

Goku shielded his eyes as the twister exploded in a shower of black and red sparks. He could feel it as well as the others, Vegeta's power had now increased to just beyond his own. Though, not quite as high as Bardock's, and certainly nothing he couldn't contend with.

/But I definitely can't hold anything back, now./ he thought. /I didn't want to risk killing him before but it's better I take that chance than risk dying myself. If I lose here, and the Grand Mazoku manages to get control over his mind, he could cause problems for Bardock and the Spirit Bomb plan./

Lowering his arm and getting a look at Vegeta again, his eyes widened. His appearance had further altered. The red stripes on his forehead had grown thicker, his skin had darkened, his hair had grown thicker and spiky-er, and his eyes were now a solid, glowing, silver-blue.

Vegeta smirked as he raised his arms and clenched his fists. "Now do you see, Kakkarotto!?" he cried. "I am the greatest, the most powerful! I am better than you, and it's time to prove it!" he roared, surging in at the other Sai-jin again.

Goku's eyes widened in shock and he just barely ducked under the charging Sai-jin's punch. He quickly brought a leg up and blocked the follow-up kick, then slammed a rising uppercut into his stomach. The abdominal blow doubled him over and Goku thrust his elbow down into the back of his neck, driving him back toward the ground again.

Vegeta pulled to a stop after only a hundred feet, however, and shot back up at him. "This is it, this is our battle, this is what I have been waiting for!" he cried, as the two began trading furious close range attacks. Their powers were so close, their speeds so close, that neither one had the advantage. Neither one could get past the other's defenses.

"Something's always gotten in the way before, hasn't it?" Goku replied, dodging around three swings, blocking four others, and launching seven of his own attacks that were likewise blocked or dodged.

He considered the fact that he'd first discovered that Vegeta wanted to fight him after his return from space, but by then they were more concerned about the coming Android threat. And, after that, he'd been killed at the Cell Games. Goku could almost see, thinking back on it, how that past had lead to this battle.

Vegeta's pride had been wounded on Namek, and frayed further at the Cell Games, and then he'd lost his chance to fight him. Apparently forever. But now, here was a chance, and because of his pride Vegeta was simply unwilling, perhaps even unable, to risk losing it.

/At the moment, Vegeta could probably overcome this 'Dark Awakening' thing if he wanted./ Goku realized, as Vegeta punched him in the face. He quickly blocked the follow-up kick and then retaliated with a knee to the stomach that had the Sai-jin royal gasping for air, but did little to slow him.

/Even so, he clearly doesn't. It's finally closed the gap between us again, it's given him what he's wanted./ Goku frowned and surged backward, away from Vegeta, putting a little distance between them. /He knows the plan as well as I do, he knows neither of us is needed in this final battle against Quietus, that Bardock can generate the Spirit Bomb on his own just fine. That's why he's willing to do this./

Goku cupped his hands at his side as he thought, blue energy flaring to life between his palms. /But I can feel it now in his energy, an inner battle of light and darkness. The evil he's let in, that he just absorbed and is using to match me, is fighting for control. If this fight goes on for too long it could take over. I have to try and end this quickly, and worry about his pride later./

He thrust his arms forward, firing the Kamehameha at Vegeta. The other Sai-jin's voice rang out as he countered, "Final Flash!" and the two beams of energy collided high above the planet sending out powerful shock waves in all directions, scattering the few dead warriors that had still remained within a thousand yards of them.

It soon became clear to Goku that the two of them were in a stalemate. Vegeta had a slight power advantage now, but not enough to drive back the Kamehameha with. And he had no way of adding any more power to his attack than he already had, he'd channeled as much into it as he could before firing, hoping to end the fight there.

/So much for that idea./ he thought, ending his attack and then shooting to the left to avoid being hit by Vegeta's Final Flash which, now uncontested, zipped by him an instant later.

"You have gotten a lot better." Goku said, turning to face him again.

"Of course." Vegeta said, smirking. "I am the Sai-jin King, descendant of Vegeta the First, First King of the Sai-jin People, first Super Sai-jin in known history, the Sai-jin who unified all the tribes into one nation. Biology may have given me a handicap with the reduced capacity gene, but only to rein in my incredible power.

"You see, Kakkarotto, in the end destiny is on my side. I have gone from the weakest Sai-jin royal in known history to the most powerful King the Sai-jin race has ever known! The first member of the royal family to ever surpass the power of Vegeta the First, the greatest of our great line!"

As he spoke, Goku heard both pride and bitterness in his voice, in equal measure. And near the end, he saw his hands and jaw both clench, and he felt he knew what Vegeta was thinking. Best of his family, but not best of his people. Weakest of his line to strongest of it, but not weakest of his people to strongest of them. First of his family to surpass Vegeta the First, but not the first Sai-jin. Those 'honors' went to Goku.

/As much power as he's gained, as much as he's improved, in the end it's not as much as me, and I think that's what's really eating at him. Why he's fixated so much more on me than on Bardock or Gohan. We both have similar backgrounds, starting out as the weakest of our families, but I've gone above and beyond him, done and improved more./

Goku sighed and shook his head, finally realizing just how deeply Vegeta's pride, and the wounds to it, ran. And even more concerned now about the Sai-jin's mind. The dark energy within was churning, growing stronger, and he was worried they didn't have much more time. He was just about to charge in at Vegeta and resume the battle when a sudden power flux caught his focus.

/Is, is that Gohan!?/ he thought, turning in the direction of the energy. Vegeta, too, had felt the power spike and turned his gaze that way as well. Goku focused on it and realized that it was, indeed, Gohan. Though his power was increasing quickly, had already doubled from what it had been before, from what he'd thought was his eldest son's maximum power.

His eyes widened as Gohan's still climbing power surpassed his own. /He still subconsciously holds back some of his power, and it feels like that withholding has increased a LOT since he was kid. His power's just tripled! He's even stronger than Bardock and I.../ The planet beneath them shook savagely then, as a massive stream of golden energy surged across its surface and then exploded, carving out a huge trench and blasting out a massive crater, cracks snaking out across the planet's surface from the blast zone.

He stared on in wonder as the shockwave reached them, pushing the unprepared fighters back a few feet, their hair waving in the sudden stiff wind. /Incredible, Gohan. But... what triggered it?/ He shook his head as the wind died. Whatever the trigger had been, he knew it wasn't good, only anger had ever drawn out his son's full power, and there was nothing he could do about it right now.

XXX

Gohan had put Vegeta's power increase out of his mind more quickly than his opponents had, and managed to land blows on each of them before they'd brought their defenses up again. Malchio had been the first to recover, and Gohan had only gotten one hit on him, but the two Demons had taken longer, and Gohan had landed several solid blows on both.

Unfortunately, none of those had been enough to incapacitate either Demon, and he was still fighting a three on one fight. Malchio was still proving the greatest challenge of the three, though that challenge was declining. The two Demons were burning through their power quickly, Malus was now weaker than him and Akuhei only a little stronger. Which meant they were giving Gohan less challenge, and in turn allowing him to pay more attention to the better skilled but weaker Grand Mazoku.

Gohan dodged around a blast of red energy from Akuhei, then deflected the purple blast from Malus toward Malchio. The Grand Mazoku dodged the redirected attack, and flew right into Gohan's fist. The blow spun him around and the half Sai-jin kicked him in the back, knocking him down.

He turned then, blocking a punch from Malus before smashing a fist into his stomach. Before he could follow up with another attack, however, Akuhei arrived and kneed him in the side of the head. The blow caught Gohan off guard and knocked him sailing toward Malchio's palace where he slammed into one of the still standing walls.

Pulling to a stop inside he turned his gaze to his left, where the rubble created by Vegeta's transformation lay. According to the Demons Videl lay somewhere in that... His eyes suddenly widened, he could feel her! It was faint, almost overwhelmed by his father and Vegeta, even this close to it, but it was there!

And fading...

He instantly turned his attention from the three he'd been fighting and focused, entirely, on the weak and dying ki of Videl, shooting toward the pile of rubble. As he neared his fix on the signal grew stronger, and his concern greater. It was even weaker than he'd first assumed, barely there at all, and it wouldn't last much longer. He had to get her help somehow, and fast.

Reaching her location he grabbed the biggest piece of rubble in the area, lifted it, and pitched it aside. He was reaching for the next rock when Malchio's foot slammed into the back of his head and he stumbled forward. Turning, scowling, he lashed out with a hard punch that cracked into the Grand Mazoku's chest.

And then the energy around it exploded and Malchio was blasted backward five hundred yards, through several walls, before falling to the ground and sliding another hundred feet. Gohan then turned to deflect Akuhei's kick, grabbed the Demon's leg, and pitched him into Malus before sending a ball of golden energy at them.

Before the attack had gone even more than ten feet Gohan had already pushed it, and the Demons, from his mind, and was back to moving the rubble out of the way. Pitching large rocks into the distance, shoving the smaller ones aside, and working his way down to Videl.

Then, as he moved one of the rocks aside, he saw a hand. He worked faster, shoving more rocks aside, and in less than two seconds he had enough of her upper body exposed to pull her out from under the debris. He didn't need his ki sense to know she was in bad shape. Broken bones, shallow breathing, blood everywhere. The power of Vegeta's transformation into a Demon had done a serious number on her.

He swallowed a lump in his throat and, carefully, began to extract her from under the ruins. He had her half way out when red light illuminated the area and he looked up. He lowered her back down and swatted the energy blast aside, then lunged at Malchio and kicked him in the chest, the head, then slammed an elbow into his back, grabbed his arm, and pitched him off into the sky.

With the Grand Mazoku again out of the way he turned back to Videl, and froze. Malus and Akuhei were standing on either side of her, and Akuhei had an arm pointed toward her, red energy already charged in front of his hand.

"Let her go!" Gohan yelled.

"Heh, heh, heh. This is why you Shinkai scum are so weak." said Malus. "You care too much about other people, it leaves you open to things like this."

Akuhei grinned. "And when you lose someone you care about, it leaves you a wreck, too distraught to even fight!" he laughed, launching the attack. Gohan's eyes widened, he was too far away and the Demons too close for him to have any hope of stopping the attack. It hit Videl dead center less than half a second after it was fired, and then exploded.

The faint trace of her ki vanished in an instant, before the shockwave from the blast had even reached him. He floated, frozen, in numbed silent shock as the glare and dust faded away. There was no trace of her left, just a smoking crater in the ground.

"See?" Akuhei laughed, turning to face Malus as Malchio landed nearby. "All the fight's gone out of him. This will be a cakewalk, now."

Gohan just stared at the crater. "She was... she was defenseless. She was..."

His words caught in his throat as his aura pulsed faintly. He wasn't sure what she was. His best friend, certainly, but... maybe more. Was it really just yesterday that he told Piccolo she wasn't his girlfriend? He'd thought, maybe, they were heading that way, but, now...

He could feel it bubbling inside him, the same rage he'd felt seven years ago. He knew what that anger could do to him, how easily it was to get lost in it, to lose control, and part of him tried to rein it in, to keep it down.

A small part.

"You MONSTERS!" Gohan suddenly screamed, catching all three by surprise. His aura pulsed and flared brighter, a burst of wind washing out from him for a moment, before settling again. His fingers slowly curled, his hands clenching into fists.

Too small a part.

Gohan threw his head back and screamed, his aura flaring up massively around him, the planet shaking from the force of it though he was about a hundred feet above the ground. The wind built quickly, forcing the shocked Demons and Grand Mazoku back a few feet, then a few more, then blowing them off of their feet and dozens of yards through the air before they could right themselves.

"Wh-what is this!?" Akuhei cried.

"His... his power is..." Malchio breathed, wide-eyed.

A moment later the screams died down, and then a point of golden light flared above the Mortal's head, and his voice resounded. "Masenko!"

The golden stream of energy, fifty yards across, erupted from the Sai-jin's hands and surged at the three of them, each too shocked to move, and engulfed them a second later. Paine watched on in disbelief as she felt all three energies vanish almost at once, and the attack sped on along the surface of the planet for several miles.

She felt dozens of other energies vanish as it rushed on, dead Makai warriors unlucky enough to be in its way as it passed. And even from where she floated, three hundred yards away from the stream, she could feel it pushing back at her, feel the edges of the uncontrolled and untamed energy within trying to tear at her.

The stream ended, the shaking of the ground stopped. And then an explosion rocked the horizon, a massive eruption that launched a dust cloud three hundred miles into the air, rocked the planet once more, and unleashed a shockwave that uprooted even the trees by the palace, and further cracked the already damaged structure. It was all she could do not to be blown away by the force of it.

Below her, as the roar of the explosion faded, she heard a cracking and crunching sound. Looking down she saw the ground ripping apart. Cracks snaking out from the area of the explosion, growing deeper and wider. Spires of rock erupted out from within as the energy and force washing out from the blast forced its way through planet, shoving aside everything in its path.

Paine turned her gaze from the still growing cracks back toward where she could sense the Shinkai mortal's ki. It had dropped back down again, from the massive level it had just been at, a level comparable to that of Aku, second strongest of the Supreme Mazoku, to one lower than she'd ever felt it before.

Taking a deep breath she floated closer, moving over to see inside the ruined structure. A moment later she found the Mortal kneeling beside a small crater, one hand resting down inside it, his hair now black instead of its former gold.

She was wary of approaching him, but she knew she had to. Just as she'd worked up the nerve to speak she heard a loud groaning, followed by a rumble and then a reverberating crack, from off to her left. Looking over she saw part of Malchio's Palace collapse into the still growing cracks.

She cast her gaze all around her, taking in the still growing damage to the terrain, and her eyes widened. The cracks weren't just coming out from the area of the blast zone any more, but forming all over and going in every direction.

/The planet's fracturing./ she realized. The uncontrolled force of the explosion had been too great, the shockwave of energy too powerful, for the already seismically unstable planet to resist. A cascade of quakes had rippled through planet as the shockwave set off every single fault line at once. The Grand Mazoku's planet was ripping itself apart, and soon it would be gone.

XXX

A/N: A note about the use of fighting styles in this saga, and the series as a whole, as they have been mentioned frequently now, and will be mentioned more throughout.

In early Dragonball Roshi pretty much called fighting styles worthless when he was training Goku and Krillin. However, in the view of the series, I see this as being related entirely to existent 'real world' styles relative to the powers and abilities of the Dragonball characters.

In other words - when you are as powerful as Goku, Krillin, and Roshi were, even in early Dragonball, and when you can do what they could do, and you were so much better than everyone else, fighting styles are pretty much a waste of time. I mean, even in the real world it's not like the world's strongest man would need to bother with fighting styles to beat down the average joe. However, when you work ki related abilities into the styles, and when you are dealing with others who are on your level of power, fighting styles become relevant again.

And 'fighting style' is a blanket concept covering a whole range of aspects, from the type of attacks most often used (kicks, punches, heavy blows, quick attacks, ki attacks, etc) to the types of ki skills used (defensive, offensive, indirect, blunt, explosive, piercing, cutting, etc) and into so many other areas.

Just thought I'd toss this out there since I just recently read that chapter of the Manga again. :)


	63. The Beginning of the End

A/N: Something screwed up the formating last try. For some reason, half of my quotation marks vanished. Ugh. I think I've managed to restore them all now, however, so let's try this again, shall we?

Also, a note for those interested, I recently made a short 'sprite movie' battle between Appla and Hotaru, just for fun/out of boredom. It is up on my Youtube account. Same username.

Chapter Sixty-three – The Beginning of the End

Bardock watched the ground shrink as he flew up higher and higher. He could easily sense Dabura, Nefaria, and three other powers that stood out amongst the masses. There were at least five thousand people on this world, though none of them all that powerful by comparison to him or the Mazoku. None of them would be even the slightest threat to him in Super Sai-jin. The two Mazoku who had sided with Quietus, however, were stronger than him.

"So exactly just how powerful are Dabura and Quietus?" he wondered, flying up past the sparse cloud layer and still going. The Spirit Bomb he'd be making would be huge, and the best way to make it unnoticed was to do it way above the surface, and so far there seemed to be no end to this world's atmosphere, and so no reason to not go higher and decrease the chance of being spotted.

As he flew he focused on the five powers that were above the rest. He'd have to keep close watch on the fight, just in case things went badly below. Dabura's and Nefaria's powers he picked out from the group easily enough. He'd been around the pair long enough now that their patterns were familiar.

He came to a stop in his ascent at last, now about fifteen miles above the surface. He figured this should be high enough to avoid detection. He had to admit, he was curious as to just how powerful this Quietus was. He could feel how calm and controlled the Demon's energy was on the surface, and how much it churned underneath that veneer. He was putting on a show of being in control, but he was on edge, itching to fight, and teetering dangerously close to an uncontrolled frenzy.

/Too bad I'm up here and not down there./ Bardock thought with a sigh as he raised his arms and sent out his thoughts through the link to the lower planes. His concentration faltered for a moment, however, as he felt the energy he was sure was Quietus's suddenly spike up, growing, matching, and surpassing his own maximum in just a few seconds.

And then, a churning and shifting of energy, the unmistakable sign of a transformation, and Quietus's power jumped up even higher. /Unreal!/ Bardock thought, eyes widening. In an instant Dabura's power grew to match and exceed it, though just barely. They were both nearly twice his own power. And Dabura had said he was weaker than Quietus, which meant that the Demon wasn't at full power yet.

Shaking his head, and mentally grumbling that he wasn't directly involved in the battle below, even if he wouldn't have a chance in a direct fight, he returned to the task at hand. He made contact with those in Purgatory and the Dead Zone after just a few seconds, and smiled. It didn't take any coaxing at all for them to yield up their energy, either, and his smile grew as he felt the power surging toward him at great speed.

/This could actually work!/ he thought, as the attack began to take form overhead. /At this rate, I should have something strong enough to defeat Quietus in about twenty or twenty-five minutes!/

XXX

Nefaria was happy that Neikan had been dispatched elsewhere. Even with her link to the Plane she'd been certain fighting both Aku and Neikan would be a losing battle. But with only Aku as an adversary, she felt she had a fighting chance.

/Though only because we are here./ she thought, as she readied to fight. /Anywhere else and I wouldn't have much hope of winning./

"You were fools to come back here." Aku said, smirking, his three rows of pitch black razor sharp teeth contrasting strongly with the alabaster white of his skin, and the red and purple of his robes. His eyes, perfectly round and solid black, were set almost on the sides of his head.

Those features, and the wide blunted snout that dominated the lower half of his face, came together to give the impression you were looking at a shark turned into man. But then, his race in the mortal plane was evolved from the creatures. One of the more ferocious and vicious races Makai had, and there were quite a few. And Nefaria knew first hand what it was like to fight them.

She could vaguely hear Dabura and Quietus talking, vaguely noticed their powers flare up, and vaguely noted that Dabura seemed to be the stronger of the two at the moment. But her main focus was on Aku, on his features, and on her own past. On all of the Shraken she had fought and killed, and on those few that had killed her.

"You were the fool to help free Quietus." she countered, forcing the memories of her history with the Shraken race back into the depths of her mind. Remembering that, now, would not be helpful. "I may be new to all of this, but at least I understand the bigger picture."

"Bigger picture, pah!" Aku snorted. "Worthless nonsense. All of this talk of 'maintaining balance' is just an excuse for the weak to hide behind. Dabura is too soft to be our leader. Though it's no surprise you sided with him, you're just as soft. Why such a pathetic wretch as you was chosen to be a Supreme Mazoku is beyond me. You forget, I know your history."

"Then you also know that this 'pathetic wretch' conquered your entire race by herself." she replied, smirking. "So I guess that makes you more pathetic."

For a moment Aku's sneer shifted into a scowl, but then changed back to a sneer once more. "Perhaps you did conquer them, but then you let them live and look what it got you. Dead, by their hand, and most painfully at that."

Nefaria shuddered involuntarily at the memory of her death, which broadened Aku's sneer. She forced those thoughts down, buried them, and focused her mind on the coming battle. Even with the fight occurring here, in her plane, the power difference between the two of them would make things difficult. She needed to be focused on the fight, not the past.

"Enough talk." she said, pushing off and charging in at Aku. "It's time to end this!" She lashed out with a hard left punch but Aku managed, just barely, to slip around the attack. His right knee shot up as he dodged, aiming for her side, but Nefaria leaned in and away and the blow just barely grazed her back instead.

Twisting around she thrust her elbow out and slammed it into the side of his head, causing Aku to stumble back a few steps. She thrust her other arm out and launched a blast of black and purple energy, but despite the blow to the head Aku reacted in time and deflected the attack away.

Nefaria's eyes widened first in shock, then in pain, as Aku moved in and quickly slammed a large foot into her stomach, doubling her over, then smashed an open palm down into the back of her head, driving her face first into the ground.

Too stunned to react fast enough the surging follow-up kick to the stomach caught her full on and knocked her into the air and fifty yards away before she fell back to the ground, rolled another ten, and came to a stop. Coughing and gasping for air, grimacing against the pain lancing through her stomach, she climbed back onto her feet.

Even as she turned to face Aku, who had yet to move again, or to even lower his foot from his last kick, she felt the pain and damage fading away as her body was restored by the power of the Mazoku Plane.

She had hoped her connection to the plane would boost her defensive capabilities more than they had, but judging from the damage Aku's attacks had done, it hadn't. The plane's power would heal her of any damage she received, at least for a time, but she didn't want to push her luck to see if it could revive her, too, if he got in a lucky killing blow.

/And, eventually, the healing will stop./ she thought. Her connection to the plane allowed her to absorb the ambient energy around her and stimulate a rapid cell division and repair process, identical in nature to the process she induced in others when healing them. So, in effect, her body was actually repairing itself as normal, just at an accelerated rate.

However, a body, even a Mazoku body, could only be stretched so thin before it hit the breaking point. Each healing consumed internal bodily resources. Fat stores, cellular base proteins, and so forth. Mazoku or not, she was still technically a living being, and like any living being there was a limit to how much cell division her body could achieve with a set amount of resources to use.

She considered all of that in the two seconds it took for her to stand back up again, a frown forming on her face. It looked like it was a very good thing that Neikan had been sent off. She wouldn't have had any chance at all against both Aku and him. As it stood, it looked like her chances against Aku were a lot smaller than she'd first assumed.

/Still, if I can anticipate his moves.../ she thought, slipping into a fighting stance. /His fighting style is a blend of the standard Mazoku style, Kenshouten, and the ancient style of the Shraken royal family. While the Shraken royal style I encountered was a more recent variation and development of the ancient style, Aku having died several million years before I was even born, there are similarities.

/Perhaps enough of them for me to pick up on, and allow me to anticipate his style./ she mused. /And it is perhaps wise, for those same reasons, for me to avoid the use of Kenshouten in this battle. He's seen me use my own style before, but I doubt he really paid it much attention./

"I can see you scheming over there." Aku called, smirking. "It wont do you any good, there's no plan to get you out of this one. You and Dabura were dead the second you returned here. I will crush you, Lord Quietus will crush that fool Dabura, and then there will be no one left able to stand against us."

Nefaria's frown faded away, dissolving into a faint smile. She knew the Shinkai mortals wouldn't have a chance against Quietus in a direct fight, and only if the stronger two worked together could they hope to take Aku, but it was enough to underscore to her how truly clueless and stupid Aku was.

Granted, she hadn't anticipated such powers from Mortals either, but at least she was intelligent enough to realize they could possibly, as impossible as it seemed, beat her in fight. Aku, on the other hand, was so full of himself, so arrogant, that he could sense Goku's power, and that of the Mortal he was fighting, and still think he was invincible.

As she pushed off with her left foot and surged in at Aku again her faint smile turned into a smirk. She was looking forward to seeing the look on Aku's face, and on Quietus's as well, when Bardock unleashed the attack he was forming. She had no love for Shinkai, but she'd been a fan of underdog causes since she was a child, when she had been the underdog.

Reaching Aku she lashed out with a powerful kick but the other Mazoku ducked under it, and right into her other knee. It slammed into his snout with with a resounding crack, and she was sure something had broken. Flipping over his head and coming down behind him she slammed her foot into his back and knocked him face first into the ground.

"It's pathetic." she said, turning to face him again as he rolled over onto his back. "Lord Dabura should have removed you the last time you helped Quietus. You're too narrow minded to serve as a Supreme Mazoku. Too dense to grasp the nature of the universe, of reality. Even now you're missing the big picture. Too focused on yourself to realize you've already lost, that you're already dead."

Aku snorted as he wiped some of his pale blue blood off his snout. "You're delusional." he said, climbing to his feet. "We've lost? I can't fathom how you've come to that conclusion. Our power goes well beyond anything Shinkai could dream of. Neikan will decimate any resistance it offers him."

Nefaria shook her head. "Just like your Demon army conquered Shinkai in less than an hour?" she asked. "That is what you said would happen when you tried to recruit me, is it not? And yet, not only is Shinkai not conquered, but it has launched a counteroffensive against you and Quietus."

"One that will soon fail." Aku said, smirking. "It's already stalled, now that those two Mortal's are fighting on Malchio's world."

Nefaria was about to say more but stopped as a new surge of power grazed her senses. The other Mortal they'd left behind, Gohan, had just dramatically increased his power. It was so close to Aku's, now, that she couldn't tell which was higher. But the increase was fleeting, gone after only a few seconds.

/What was that?/ she wondered, shocked. She could tell by Aku's expression that he'd not felt it. Likely he wasn't even following the battle unfolding on Malchio's planet. She shook it off, it didn't matter what had caused that spike, she had a fight to finish.

"You see?" she said, resuming the conversation she'd been having. "That is exactly what I'm talking about. But don't worry, you'll understand soon enough!" and with that she lunged in again.

"It is you who will understand soon." Aku said, blue light flashing in his right hand as a long metal pole took form. An instant later he was holding a four foot long Trident with foot long tines. "Understand that you are weak, and that you chose the wrong side!"

Nefaria's eyes widened and she ducked quickly, just barely avoiding being impaled on the points of the Trident as she flew under his jab, only inches above the ground. Passing him, she came back up and turned, landing a few dozen feet away from him.

The trident, at a total of five feet in length, was going to make things trickier. It would give Aku a much greater reach, make it harder for her to get in close. Getting it away from him wouldn't even work, he'd just summon it back to his hands again.

She frowned as Aku pushed off, charging toward her and pulling back his weapon arm as he flew. She ducked under the thrust of the trident and then came up, intending to pound an uppercut into his abdomen, but before she could make contact his knee shot out and caught her in the face, knocking her back.

The blow caused her to stumble a few steps, and her vision to blur. Her disorientation lasted only a second, but by the time it cleared Aku was on top of her again. She tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough and her eyes widened in shock and pain as the three points of the trident pierced through her stomach and out her back.

Aku grinned. "Understand now?" he asked, flicking his arm to the side and flinging her off the end of the weapon, a trail of bright red blood trailing after her as she flew a dozen feet, hit the ground, rolled a few more, and then came to rest on her stomach.

XXX

"I have to admit, I had not expected you to return here." Quietus said. "I thought you were too much of a coward."

Dabura shook his head in a mix of derision and disbelief. "Neither bravery or cowardice have anything to do with ruling the Realm, or how I conduct business." he said. "Rushing blindly into a situation is a sign of arrogance and idiocy, not bravery, and is the trademark of the selfish. I operate off of a higher doctrine, abiding by intellect and the good of the realm."

Quietus snorted in disgust. "Nothing but words spouted by the weak." he said. "Those who have power and yet cower in the corner instead of taking what should be theirs are weak, pathetic, and do not deserve the power they hold."

"Power is not authority, it does not give you carte blanche with the workings and order of the Realms." Dabura retorted. "Even I obey a higher power."

Quietus smiled. "Yes, I know." he said. The remark caught Dabura off guard, but before he could press Quietus about it, the Demon's power suddenly began to skyrocket. A second later he flashed bright red and instantly his appearance had changed.

His dull gray skin had turned blood red, his dark blue hair had turned leaf green, and the hair on his eyebrows had vanished. In their place a pair of brown bone horns grew out, running along the length of his brows and then hooking up off his head, like a V resting on his nose.

His eyes were no longer red, but pure solid white, and the black cloak he'd worn had fallen away. His muscles had bulked up and grown, his biceps now as big around as Nefaria's waist, and he'd grown a foot in size now standing 7 foot tall. A brown bone plate covered his chest and ribs, leaving only the flesh of his abdomen exposed.

But despite all of these changes, the most obvious difference about his new appearance over his old was the pair of red, bat like, wings that sprouted from his back. While he wore no shirt he had on a pair of black pants with a green waistband and cuffs. Dabura recognized the form from the last time they'd fought, though he still wondered where the Demon had obtained it from.

"This time you wont escape." Quietus said, his voice a low growl.

"You don't have what it takes to defeat me." replied Dabura. "No matter how much power you have."

"We'll see about that!" Quietus cried, lunging in. Dabura took a half step back, crouched, and then thrust his right fist up as he stood, launching a rising uppercut at the charging Demon's stomach. However, Quietus reacted quickly, grabbing Dabura's wrist before the Mazoku's fist made contact, stopping the punch. His other arm shot out, palm open, aimed for Dabura's chest. The Mazoku King stepped to the right, just barely slipping out of the way of the blow.

Dabura smirked, then, as the fist at the end of the arm Quietus held opened, black and red light flared, and the point blank blast slammed into the Demon's chest with a thunderous crack. The force of the impact drove him twenty feet into the air and broke his grasp on Dabura's arm. The Mazoku surged up after him, passed him, and then thrust his elbow down slamming it into the back of his opponent's neck, driving him back down into the ground.

/The arrogant fool is going easy on me./ Dabura thought, scowling. He'd expected Quietus's power to quickly climb up to the Demon's maximum as soon as the battle had begun, but it hadn't budged. At their current levels he had the power advantage. If he could capitalize on that edge, small as it was, the Sai-jin's attack would be unnecessary. /And if he launches it before Quietus is at full power, he may not make it strong enough to destroy him./ The first thought had made him smile a little, the second had him scowling.

By now Quietus had picked himself back up off the ground, and out of the small crater he'd formed on impact, and was looking at him, smirking. Dabura's eyes widened an instant later as the Demon's eyes sparked, and he quickly moved backward. He wasn't fast enough, however, and the twin beams of energy Quietus had launched from his eyes pierced Dabura through the left shoulder. Dabura felt the injuries vanish almost at once. While the entire Realm was his domain, and his abilities and capacity was enhanced everywhere, he had his greatest edge in the Mazoku Plane.

Here, alone of all places in the Realm, he was all but invincible. The power of the plane would work to heal him, as it would Nefaria, but the Realm also worked to heal and empower him separately from the plane. As much of an edge Nefaria had here, as quickly as she would heal from injury, he had it double. Twice the power, twice the resistance, and half the time to heal from any injury.

Though he had his recovery limits, too. Greater than those of Nefaria, because of his higher position in the hierarchy, but limits all the same. The last time he and Quietus had fought, it had taken only twenty minutes for those limits to be reached. He'd given the Sai-jin an hour long link to the lower plans to be safe, but he wasn't sure he could last that long. He was just about to charge down at Quietus when he felt a twinge of power at the edge of his senses. It was distant, one of the energies on Malchio's world.

/Impressive./ he thought, as he realized it was the other Mortal that had come with them, the younger of the three. His energy had just spiked greatly, just barely exceeding that of Aku's. How or why, he was unsure, and he felt it drop again only a few seconds later, and then decrease massively after that, though he didn't seem injured or drained. He'd noticed Malchio's power vanish following the Mortal's spike, and knew something would have to be done after this was over to compensate for his loss or Limbo would be in disarray before long. Still, as much as the power spike intrigued him on intellectual level, and Malchio's loss concerned him on a administrative level, there were other things that needed his focus.

He charged down at Quietus and the two locked into a close range exchange of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges. He could tell by the exchange that the Demon still wasn't giving it his all. It wasn't just the fact he'd still not powered up, either. He simply wasn't putting all of his effort into the fight. The fact that Quietus felt he could phone in the fight had him annoyed. The fact that, as things were going, he was right about that had him mad. He'd trained over the last two thousand years in case anything like Quietus happened again and it, clearly, hadn't made the least bit of difference.

/Then again, we Mazoku, just like the Kais, gain in power far more slowly than Mortals do./ He thought, ducking under a kick from Quietus, grabbing the Demon's foot, and then yanking him in toward him and smashing his elbow into the man's jaw. The blow snapped the Demon's head back but didn't seem to daze or slow him as he retaliated at once, smashing his other leg into the Mazoku King's side, causing him to gasp in pain.

Dabura released Quietus's leg, flipped over, thrust a hand down into the ground, and then sprung up into the air and back, moving away from his opponent. The pain lancing through his side had dulled within a few seconds, but had not left completely. Simple injuries, like bruises, would not be healed by the powers of the Realm or Plane. However, the cracked rib that had been the cause of his gasp, had mended. As he glared at Quietus he found himself wishing, much to his shock, that Muzai had not been... lost a few thousand years ago.

/As much as I would dislike relying on a Kai, even more than relying on Mortals, to help us, having him here with me would make this a far easier battle./ he thought. The Lord of Kais had been always a little stronger than him, though if he was remembering Quietus's full power correctly the Demon would have still outclassed even Muzai's maximum by a fair margin. Together, however, he was sure they could have dealt with him. He'd fought beside Muzai once before, shortly after becoming the Supreme Mazoku, and they'd worked surprisingly well together.

"Pah." he muttered, turning aside and spitting at the ground. /Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age./ he thought. /Missing that fat old fool./ He dodged to the side as Quietus, grinning, lunged at him, and just missed being punched in the face. He ducked under a kick, countered with a punch that was blocked, and then deflected another kick aimed for his head before smashing his knee into the Demon's fleshy abdomen. The blow drew a gasp from Quietus and knocked the wind from him. It was a small victory but, at the moment, he'd take whatever he could get.

Dabura took a step back then, stretched out his right arm, palm pointed at his opponent. "Desolation Wave!" he yelled, red and black energy flaring to life and erupting from his palm. Quietus reacted quickly, turning slightly to his left and bringing one of his wings around to block with. Dabura scowled as his attack hit the wing and stalled. He'd forgotten about this little nuisance. The Demon's wings seemed to be utterly impervious to damage, they could be used to block anything and everything without any issue, preventing even his strongest attacks from doing any damage.

The Mazoku let up on his energy attack, it was pointless to keep it up with the wing in the way, and lunged in close again. He reached his opponent in an instant and lashed out with a punch. Quietus's arm shot up and blocked it as the Demon countered with a kick but Dabura slipped around it and then spun and slammed the heel of his foot into his opponent's back, driving him forward. Turning to face him he thrust his arm out toward him again, palm open.

"Evil Blast!" he cried, a three foot wide red orb of energy suddenly forming in front of his hand and then shooting across at Quietus. There was a thunderous crack and flash as the energy impacted and exploded, the shock wave billowing Dabura's cape out behind him as he lowered his arm and then surged into the rising dust cloud.

XXX

Unknown Location

"Ma'am!" one of the techs called, twisting around in his chair to look behind him.

"What is it?" Raven asked, from where she sat in the seat usually occupied by her mate. She was currently the only part of the command structure in the room. Her daughter had gone off to train, likely to burn off the anxious tension generated by the closeness of their plan's fruition. Razor was dealing with matters outside their prison, though much closer at hand than the North Galaxy, working with Ozotto to prepare their fleet for the coming departure. And her Mate was going over the finer points of the last phase of their plan with their Generals.

They'd discussed the plan in detail before, of course, but it had under gone several revisions in recent years as events in the North Galaxy had unfolded in slightly unexpected ways. In that regard, at least, Slug had been right about their plans. When things didn't go as anticipated they simply adjusted to compensate, which they'd been doing more frequently in the last two decades than in any of the thousands of millennia since they'd first set the plan into motion.

"A pure energy build-up has been detected." the tech reported. "The reading is faint, hard to pin down. It has to be emanating from Makai."

Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It seemed that the moment of truth was finally at hand. All of their planning, all of their plotting, all of their careful organizing, it all came down to this. Something completely and utterly out of their hands. They'd orchestrated the order and powers of the galaxy to meet their needs, manipulated the biggest players in both Realms, and still it all came down to this. All they could do was hold their breath and cross their fingers that enough energy was gathered to achieve their goals.

Win or lose, the outcome of the battle occurring now in Makai didn't matter to them. The victor would be dealt with eventually either way. Her only stake, their only stake, was whether or not the Spirit Bomb currently being generated would reach sufficient power to break the Black Field, to free them. Nothing they'd done thus far would matter if that singular event did not occur. If that happened they would have to back shift again, slip some unknown amount of time into the past once more and plot, orchestrate, and manipulate some more, tweak things into the state they needed.

All well and good, in the end. They would be free eventually, it was only a matter of time. But the time was the problem. Kais, she was sick of this place. She wanted OUT. Solid ground, fresh air, sunshine. She suddenly found herself missing them more now than ever before, more than she'd ever realized she did, she could. Longing for them like nothing else before. Her hands clenched, gripping the arm rests of the chair, and her back stiffened as she tensed. This had to work, now, on this try. She couldn't stand another decade of this existence, let alone the millennia that would likely be needed to correct any problems that arose at this juncture.

"What's the reading?" she asked.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand RADs and climbing quickly." the tech responded. "At current rate of increase, I estimate complete field collapse in approximately twenty-two minutes."

/Twenty-two minutes./ Raven thought, jaw clenched, heart racing. In twenty-two minutes she would know if she had freedom or if she and her daughter would be forced to wallow in this hell thousands of years more while they made adjustments to history.


	64. Changes

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this one done, but there's good cause for it (beyond just writer's block, which did contribute). I have (almost) completely re-written chapters 2 and 3 of Saga 5 and they have now replaced the originals. In part because I never really liked how the originals flowed and in part to add a little more detail and information that's relevant to the over all AH metaverse. Some partial and some compelte re-writes to Saga 5 chapters 30 through 38 are forthcoming, though will be a while. I will leave another note like this once they've been made and posted.

I have also formulated and posted a new Data Files collection. Original character bios, original attack information, a time-line, and powerlevels spanning all six current sagas up to, but not yet including, the current battles against Doom and Gloom. Those levels will be added after said battles conclude. Further information pertaining to the series will be added over time. All of this information can be found in the "Fanworks" section of the Kanzenshuu message boards.

XXX

Chapter Sixty-four - Changes

Hotaru clenched her hands into fists and ground her teeth as she listened to Nova scream and watched the pulsing energy that had engulfed the Changeling. There was nothing she could do to help, she didn't have the strength at the moment. "Come on, Nova." she said softly, watching for some sign that the woman was about to make her escape. She saw it a moment later as red and green light began to seep out from the center of the energy sphere. Then, suddenly, with a deafening crack, the sphere shattered to again reveal Nova.

The alien Queen had her hands on her knees and was panting heavily. It didn't look as though she'd taken much damage, there were no visible cracks in the woman's natural red body armor. What she might look like on the inside, after an attack like that, the Tanarian couldn't say, however. Nova's power hadn't dropped much, though, and based on what she'd been hearing from the Demon all this time she figured the attack had hurt far more than it had damaged.

Nova straightened, letting out one last push of air, and then scowled at her opponent. She'd had to exert a lot more force to escape that attack than she'd anticipated. Her people rarely needed to breathe, except to talk, but breaking free had been so straining she'd found herself involuntarily, and uncontrollably, gasping for air. A state she'd only ever experienced five other times in her life, and one that was still just as terrifying as the first time.

Normal panting was one thing. There was a time when Changelings had to breathe to survive, just like Sai-jins or Tanarians, and they could still benefit from the act. So, when tired, they would often subconsciously breathe, even pant, as a means of restoring their body's reserves of nutrients and other base materials. Really no different than when the normal breathers were breathing heavy. But what she'd just experienced was a deep seated, edge of oblivion, survival response. Her body struggling to keep its functions going, her minds fighting to remain conscious, alert. It meant she'd come dangerously close to, at the very least, passing out. At worst...

"Such a beautiful scream." Gloom said, smirking, her long black tongue emerging to run along the length of her scaled snout.

"Lacero!" Nova called, quickly forming and pitching the attack at her opponent. As soon as she let loose with the ki attack she shot off to her left on an arcing course for the Demon. Even as Gloom dodged around the first attack Nova's arm snapped out again. "Flamma!"

Gloom turned toward the sound of her opponent's voice and scowled as she saw the attack coming. She dipped down under it and then charged toward the Mortal. The other woman reversed direction in response, flying away from her, backwards. As she flew she crossed her arms over her chest and they began to glow blue. The Demon narrowed her solid red eyes into thin slits and scowled, bracing for whatever the Mortal was about to attempt.

"Frigeo Frons!" Nova cried, snapping her arms out in a wide arc to her sides. Gloom's eyes widened and she pulled to a stop as she saw the attack released. In an instant the glow around the woman's arms had swelled up into a large wall of ki, which was now charging right at her. Charging at her incredibly fast, and still growing larger as it came, there was no way she could dodge it. Quickly the Demon brought her arms across her body, ducked her head, and brought her legs up, curling into a defensive ball. Meanwhile Nova had reversed course, now charging toward her opponent.

The wall of ki hit an instant later but, instead of an explosion, there was a flash of white light at the point of impact and the Changeling Queen smirked as the Demon's eyes widened in surprise. Even as Nova pulled back her right fist and began to gather energy in her hand the Demon's power rapidly plummeted. In just under half a second it dropped from over eighty million to zero, and as soon as it did the Demon began to fall.

As she fell Gloom made no move to stop her plunge, to brace herself, or any kind of move at all. Not because surprise had frozen her but because her body refused to respond. Her muscles were stiff, completely locked up, like they were frozen. Even her eyes, now frozen in a wide-eyed look of surprise, remained as they were. Reaching the plunging Demon only about thirty feet above the ground, Nova thrust her right arm forward, pointing her palm directly at Gloom's chest.

There was a bright flash and crack as the energy in her hand was released, impacted the Demon, and then exploded. The point blank attack drove the Demon down into the ground at incredible speed, blasting out a crater forty yards in diameter and launching a dust cloud four hundred yards into the air. The Changeling Queen had just started to relax when suddenly her scouter flared to life again and Gloom's power returned, though stopping just short of eighty million now.

There was another loud crack as Gloom's foot shot up and slammed into her stomach, driving her back out of the dust cloud and down the street six blocks before she fell back to the ground again, rolled another half a block, and came to a stop on her stomach. Grimacing at the pain she felt, her natural armor unable absorb much of the force of that blow, she was none-the-less glad she hadn't yet released her Invalesco as she had been about to do. She had not expected the Demon to have come through her attacks in such good condition.

/The Frigeo Frons bottled up all of her energy./ Nova thought, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees. /Her defensive capacity should have been severely reduced, my follow-up attack should have done a lot of damage./ As she regained her feet and turned to look down the road she saw Gloom walking out of the thinning dust cloud showing far less damage than she had expected. Her clothing was torn in a few places around her abdomen, where the attack had made contact, but there was nothing else.

In a burst of purple and black Gloom suddenly surged down the road, flying only a foot above the surface, the rush of her energy tearing up the blacktop in her wake. Nova braced herself for the resumption of the fight as she contemplated what else she could do to end it. She knew she had to end it soon or she'd loose, the strain of maintaining the Invalesco this long was becoming more and more pronounced by the minute. Much longer and she wouldn't be able to keep it going.

She quickly brought her left arm up and blocked the kick Gloom had aimed for her head, then countered with a right jab for the Demon's stomach. The other woman reacted quickly, however, and managed to grab the Changeling Queen's wrist with both hands. With a quick twist and grunt of effort she pitched Nova off further down the road, then thrust both arms out in front of her, thumbs touching, hands open, and smirked.

Black and purple energy flashed around Gloom's hands as her aura flared up and the ground began to shake. The blacktop beneath her feet cracked and a crater began to form, caused by the out washing energy as she charged her attack. Four blocks ahead of her Nova had brought herself to a stop and, seeing the attack the Demon was preparing, thrust her right arm out, hand closed, and gripped her wrist with the other hand as red and orange energy began to gather in her fist.

/I have to end this, now./ Nova thought, gritting her teeth, as she pushed everything she could into her charging attack. The Invalesco wouldn't much longer and once it failed she would be insurmountably outclassed. If she could overcome whatever attack Gloom was preparing she could finish it here. If not... /If this doesn't end it, I'll need to think of something else./

"This could be bad. Do you feel that?" Tien asked. He and Hotaru stood on the roof of a building a few blocks from the fight, Tien having flown the two of them up there so they could continue to watch.

Hotaru nodded. Nova's energy felt unstable. It was dipping, just slightly, and then jumping back up again. For the moment it was still going back to her maximum but the Tanarian knew that wouldn't continue forever. If Nova lost... "Could you get above them?" she asked. "Charge something while the Demon's distracted with this coming exchange?"

"Maybe." said Tien. "But a strong enough attack to kill her, she'd notice that coming before it hit. She'd have time to dodge with that move of hers."

Hotaru frowned and was about to say more when Nova's voice rang out from below.

"Caleo Unda!" The was a loud snap, a flash of red, and then a rippling, swirling, pulsing wave of alternating bands of red and orange flame-like energy exploded from the Changeling's fist and surged down the road at the Demon. Hotaru had never seen anything like the attack the Changeling had just unleashed. Its width varied, the red bands spanning about three feet while the orange only a foot, and as the wave continued down the road the red energy bands seemed to separate from the main wave forming four foot wide rings encircling a purely orange energy stream.

Gloom smirked as she watched the attack approaching. She waited until it was about half way to her and then fired as well. "Darkness Cannon!" There wasn't so much a flash of light as there was a loss of it accompanying the Demon's attack. As though someone had dimmed the lights within a hundred yards of the black and purple energy stream she had unleashed. The energy itself could barely even be seen through the darkness, and through the thick black mist or smoke that seemed to be radiating off of it.

The two attacks slammed into each other about a block and a half from where Gloom stood with a resounding crash. At first Nova's attack tore through the Demon's stream and, for a moment, Tien thought it would overwhelm her with ease. But within half a block the momentum shifted, the attacks stalled, and then Nova's wave reversed direction as it was overpowered by the Demon's attack. The Changeling dug her feet in, jaw clenched, muscles straining as she tried to regain her momentum, but realized within five seconds it was a futile effort. The Demon's attack was surging toward her faster and faster, already it had passed the midway point and it was still picking up speed.

There was a thundering explosion two seconds later as Gloom's attack fully overpowered Nova and slammed into the royal. The blast sent her surging backward, careening a dozen blocks down the road where she smashed through the wall of a building before hitting the ground and sliding into another wall where she finally came to a stop. Groaning in pain she shook her head to clear it as she pushed herself up off the ground. Blinking as her blurry vision cleared she realized she wasn't alone in the room and froze for a moment.

Off to her right, about twenty feet ahead of her, was a group of about seven people. Four of them appeared to be Sai-jins, and one of them a child. Glancing to her left she saw another ten or twelve people along that wall. A few more Sai-jins and a few children among them as well. All of them were staring at her in fear, and some in hate as well. According to the scouter she wore Gloom was already flying toward the building. /I have to draw her away./ she thought, climbing the rest of the way to her feet.

She flew back out of the hole she'd made coming in and quickly flew up into the air, and relaxed a little as she saw Gloom change course to match. And then she heard a voice from below, a woman yelling something that sounded like a name, and she glanced down. One of the children had run out into the street and was running down the road, unaware of the Demon above them, while their mother chased after them. Nova flicked her gaze up from the pair to the Demon and saw that she was already aiming an arm toward them, energy building.

Nova redirected her momentum again and angle down toward the fleeing child and pursuing mother, pouring all of her energy into her flight. She was a little closer than Gloom but they were running toward the Demon, away from her. She heard the Demon's voice above her but barely registered it, caught sight of the charging ball of energy a second later, and knew it would be close. As the child's mother caught up to the kid, pulled them down onto the ground and then lay on top of them to shield them, Nova thrust her arms back along her body, opened her hands, and fired twin beams of energy in an effort to increase her speed.

It worked, just barely, and she felt herself accelerate a little more. A second later she felt a sudden stab of pain along her spine and the Invalesco failed, a second later she was directly over the mother and child pair, less than a hundredth of a second after that she felt Gloom's energy blast slam into her back and explode. She screamed out in pain as the blast slammed her into the ground only a few feet ahead of the two Sai-jins. Her vision blurred and went white as the pain threatened to threatened to knock her out, but she fought against unconsciousness and tried to stand.

Above her she could hear the Demon laughing as, with great effort, she forced up onto her hands and knees, and then upright onto her feet once more. She could feel the armor on her back crack and crumble as she moved, felt sections of it break off and heard it thud dully to the ground. She could feel, also, a faint burning pressure inside her lower back that told her that her armor hadn't been the only thing cracked, ruptured, by the attack. For now, though, she ignored the still laughing Demon above her and turned to face the two behind.

"Are you... ok?" she asked, grimacing at the unexpected pain speaking had generated. The woman and her child, a boy, looked unharmed but said nothing. Just stared at her in apparent surprise. She watched them for a moment, then turned her attention back to Gloom who had yet to stop laughing.

"I'm gald... you're... amused." she said, wincing with each word.

"How could I not be, such a grand display of idiocy?" Gloom called down, grinning. "What a fool, jumping in to save such pathetic creatures, and for what? Now you are too injured to fight and so I win, and you all die anyway."

Nova knew she was right, she couldn't fight now. Even if she hadn't been so badly injured by the attack she'd taken her body could no longer sustain the Invalesco. And with these injuries even if she could still use the Invalesco she'd not have nearly enough power to fight the Demon with. /But if I die... again... at least I'll know I did what I could./ she thought. She was about to say as much to the Demon when her scouter suddenly pinged and the holographic display lit up with a new, fast approaching, power indicator.

/Now what?/ she wondered as the power reading for the new arrival quickly built. As the number broke the hundred million mark there was loud crack in the sky and Gloom was knocked flying a block away and down into the ground. The Changeling blinked a couple of times as she gazed up at the figure now floating where the Demon had been a moment before. Her mind was still a little dazed from the pain and it took her a moment to recognize them, and she smiled.

"Nice timing, Piccolo."

The Namek grunted. "Get the two of them and get off the street." he said. "I'll take it from here."

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

There was a thunderous crash as Kibito slammed head first into the ground. A second before Pikkon met with the same fate he flashed blue and vanished, reappearing an instant later a few feet in behind Doom as the Mazoku stumbled back a few steps. As Kibito pulled himself out of his impact crater the dead alien above turned and thrust an arm out firing a blast of energy at his opponent. The orb of ki slammed into the back of Doom's head and exploded, knocking him forward a couple feet.

"Kibitio!" Pikkon called as he reached out and grabbed his snake like tail, twisted, and pitched the Mazoku down toward the other's location.

Kibito looked up, saw the Mazoku pitched toward him, and clenched his hands into fists. Then, with a cry, he thrust his arms up and unleashed a massive wave of bright blue energy which hit and engulfed their opponent. The bulge to the stream at the point of impact, however, showed that the Mazoku had managed some level of defense and after a few seconds Kibito let up his attack. As the energy faded Doom unfurled from the defensive ball he'd curled into and scowled down at his red skinned opponent.

"How are you able to fight me?" he growled. "Your clothes say that you are a Kai."

"I am." Kibito said, floating back up into the air so that he was at the same level as the Mazoku. Pikkon flew over to float beside him. "Or, more precisely, I am becoming one."

"Becoming... bah." Doom muttered, frowning. "You're still part Mortal, still making the transition. That explains it."

"How, exactly, does that explain anything?" asked PIkkon.

The Mazoku grinned. "It's nothing you need to worry about." he said.

As Doom lunged in at his opponents again Zenryou, having overheard the conversaton, frowned. "Interesting, though also annoying." he said.

Mikomi nodded. She'd heard as well. Apparently it was something specific about being a Kai that was causing Kibito's trouble with the Mazoku, and had caused her to be unable to harm it. She was still unsure what, exactly, it was since Pikkon was also affected and he was not a Kai. Perhaps it was because he was dead, and not a living Mortal. Either way, it seemed that this Mazoku was, effectively, invulnerable against a Kai. /An unpleasant ability for someone so powerful./ she thought. /Were it not for the fact that Kibito is not a full Kai yet, and for the technique that Pikkon is currently employing, we would have no means of fighting this one./

"At least they appear to be about even." she said after a moment, watching the on going battle. Working together Pikkon and Kibito were able to give as good as they were getting. The Mazoku's ability was reducing the effectiveness of blows landed against him but it had no effect on Kibito's superior speed. The future Supreme Kai was notably faster than the newly created Mazoku and was taking advantage of that edge, dodging most attacks that came his way.

Pikkon launched a punch at the Mazoku's head but Doom quickly side-stepped it, then reached out and grabbed the alien's arm. Turning he pitched him toward Kibito and then fired off a blast of energy after him. Kibito, who had been in the proccess of charging in for another attack, pulled to a quick stop and readied to catch his ally, and then attempt to deflect the coming attack. He caught Pikkon without issue, but before he could deflect the incoming energy blast a stream of blue energy surged by, slammed into it, and knocked it away. Kibito, Pikkon, and Doom all turned their gazes from the deflected attack and toward the source of the second energy blast.

"Olibu, you should have stayed on the Grand Kai's world." Pikkon said, crossing his arms and frowning. "You're not a match for this Demon, or Mazoku, or whatever it is."

Olibu snorted. "Most people say thank-you when someone helps them." he said. "I couldn't just stay back and wait. Don't worry, I know when I'm outclassed, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just wanted front row seats." Pikkon frowned for a moment, then turned his focus back to Doom again, shooting off toward the Mazoku in a burst of blue-white electric energy. While Pikkon and Kibito had charged back into battle Olibu floated over to join Mikomi and Zenryou.

Kibito, too, had charged back in and the two of them were giving the Mazoku all they had. Kibito's greater speed still working to their advantage, even if it seemed that what little damage they could inflict soon faded away. As Pikkon dodged around a punch aimed for his head and countered with an elbow into Doom's shoulder, which Kibito followed up by kicking the Mazoku in the side of the head, Pikkon considered their options.

/Nothing we do to him really seems to last./ he thought. /The attacks that land clearly hurt, clearly faze him, but he does not seem to be tiring or weakening in the least. Perhaps that, too, is another ability of his. If so, then likely only a single strike killing blow can stop this one./

The long dead alien scowled as he shot backward, just barely avoiding the rather nasty looking ball of red ki that Doom had tried to take his head off with. Once it had zipped away he shot back in again, catching Doom in the side with a kick while the Mazoku was occupied with dodging a furious assault from Kibito. /It's unlikely even my strongest attack would be enough to outright kill this one, at least at my current level. But a Triple Burst.../

He'd only attempt a Triple Burst once before, while developing the Hyper Striker and testing it's capacity. If he had been alive it would surely have killed him. As it was, even dead it had left him in such bad condition afterward that he'd not even contemplated a second attempt at it. Yes, his power had increased, but the strain of the technique had been far too severe to maintain for more than thirty seconds, and even that long had done excessive damage to his body. It was unlikely that he'd have enough time, or control, to manage a powerful attack before his power failed.

Which left them with just a single option.

"Hyper Flash Barrage!" he called, his body glowing blow and then vanishing. There was a sudden series of resounding cracks as Doom was rocked this way and that, and then Pikkon re-appeared in the same place he'd just vanished from as the Mazoku was knocked surging toward the ground. The alien turned his focus from his opponent to his ally. "This is getting us no where. Do you have any attacks capable of taking him out in a single strike, even with his resistance?"

The red skinned man smiled and nodded. "I do, though it will take a moment to ready."

"Make it a short moment." Pikkon said, turning back toward Doom just as the Mazoku slammed into the ground. "I'll try and keep him occupied."

Kibito nodded and began readying his attack. He clenched his hands into fists and hunched over, gathering energy as though powering up.

"Shouldn't this be going more in our favor?" Olibu asked as Pikkon surged down toward the billowing dust cloud of Doom's impact point.

"Ordinarily, yes." said Zenryou. "But this one has special abilities working in his favor. Something about being a Kai makes him immune to us, and partially so to Kibito."

"And Pikkon?"

"I suspect death is having the same adverse affect on Pikkon that being part Kai is having on Kibito." said Mikomi. "It's the only obvious connection I can see between them."

Olibu frowned in thought as he watched the battle between Pikkon and Doom resume at ground level. What Mikomi had said made some level of sense, but somehow it seemed off. As far as he could tell Pikkon had been doing about as well as Kibito, despite being weaker than Doom while Kibito had been significantly stronger. It could be something as simple as being a Kai has greater effect than being dead but...

"Unfortunately, all of those living with the power to contend with this one are currently either in Hell or in Makai." said Zenryou, frowning. "With no tell-" he was cut off there by Kibito's voice.

"Pikkon!" Kibito cried, drawing the attention of both the alien and the Mazoku. The dead warrior quickly lunged out of the way as Kibito thrust both arms and legs out toward his target. "Riot Gun!"

Olibu and Zenryou flinched away, turning their heads to the side as a brilliant red light flared from Kibito. Mikomi, knowing what to expect, had already been shielding her eyes. As the glare faded the Grand Kai and the human saw a massive stream of red energy, with white and blue bolts of energy crackling around it, surging down toward Doom. The Mazoku saw it comming and his eyes widened, quickly recognizing its power and danger.

"No, I don't think so!" he called, slapping his hands together in front of him as though in prayer. Zenryou and Mikomi both frowned as they saw it, and saw the black wisps of smoke coming from the Mazoku and swirling around it. Both recognized this from earlier, from when the two Sai-jins had battled the Demon Maku. An instant later the black smoke and energy erupted into a massive swirling twister, and a second after that Kibito's attack slammed into the raging vortex of wind and power that surrounded the twister and came to a halt.

In the sky Kibito scowled and pushed more power into his stream, trying to break through the invisible barrier and get at his target. It quickly proved to be a futile effort, and a waste of energy, and he let up. The twister raged for a moment longer before bursting apart and revealing the newly transformed Doom. The lion's head, the scaled torso, the bull's legs, the snake of a tail, the tusks, the antlers, they were all gone.

Now he looked like something like a skeleton, his overly thin body covered by a segmented white exoskeleton, leaving only small gaps at the joints exposed. The bone like armor covered his head as well, looking like a pure white skull, enhanced by hos lack lips and subsequent full-toothed, permanent, creepy smile he bore. His eye sockets held no eyes, just empty black voids, though a faint red light floated in the center of each socket. The power they could sense from denied the largely fragile appearance of his new body, however. It was still not as great as Kibito's, but it was much closer and with the edge his ability gave him it was perhaps close enough to be too much. 


	65. Me, Myself, and I

A/N: I do not seem to have a description for Paine in my files (which is odd), and my skimming of the last dozen or so chapters has not turned one up within the story, either (which is also odd, though would explain the lack of one in my files). If anyone reading this remembers a previous description for her earlier in the story, let me know please. For the time being, however, I'm gonna use (perhaps a new) one for this chapter.

XXX

Chapter Sixty-five - Me, Myself, and I

It took a moment for the shock of what Paine was seeing to fade. The amount of raw power needed to cause a planet to fracture, even one as unstable as Malchio's world, was mind boggling. She'd felt the power the Mortal had put out but actually witnessing concrete evidence of its unrestrained might was something else. Swallowing and shaking her head a little to clear it, both of her shock and her fear, she turned her focus back to the Mortal. He was still kneeling at the crater as she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Hello?" she said, and instantly felt like an idiot for saying something so simple. Her voice caught in her throat before she could continue, however, as the Mortal turned to look at her and, seeing her, his eyes narrowed.

"You're the one I sensed Videl fighting back in Hell." he said.

She swallowed again and forced herself to press on, knowing it was likely the only way to avoid a similar fate to the others. "I don't mean any harm." said Paine. "I don't intend to attack you. Actually, I never wanted to attack Shinkai in the first place."

"Then why did you?" Gohan asked, standing up.

"Because I sided with Quietus and he said to." she replied. "You can't side with someone like him, accept a gift of great power from someone like him, and then not follow his orders. It kind of gets you killed."

"So why side with him?"

Paine frowned a little, glancing around at the ruins of the palace and at the still fracturing planet beyond. She knew she had to answer, to explain, if she wanted to get out of this, but the very thought of admitting the truth, admitting her weakness, sickened her. She reached a pale blue hand up and brushed a strand of her white hair off her face.

"Respect." she said after a moment. "I don't know how much you know about Makai, but I'm a Cleric Demon. Or was, before Quietus came along. A low level one, bottom of the ladder. Our duties are menial at best, our powers nothing compared to the rest of those who run the Realm, but we keep everything going. Without us the Realm would fall into disarray.

"The higher Demons, the Controllers and the Judges, recognize at least part of that. They know and admit that our existence, my existence, at least makes things easier and smoother for them, though even they don't truly understand our importance to the running of the Realm. The Mazoku, on the other hand..." She scowled but shrugged.

"Mortal's who have proven themselves worthy in life get to come here to 'live' out their deaths, training and boasting and challenging themselves. Clerics were only allowed here if summoned, and only summoned if Malchio was feeling lazy and wanted to dump some of his work off on them so he could goof off. All Demons were insulted, belittled, mocked, and scorned by the Mortals here and by the Mazoku, and I was sick of it.

"Quietus was a Demon, which alone was enough to earn my support because he wouldn't look down on the rest of us, on me, but the power he offered... The power I have now, it was a way to get respect from the Mortals here, from the Mazoku. When I look in the eyes of those here I don't see contempt, indifference, or condescension anymore, but recognition, respect, and even occasionally some traces of awe. I'm not ignored anymore, not seen as just a nobody, not treated as nothing more than trash, and that's all I ever wanted."

As she spoke, more and more power and passion working into her voice, Gohan's face relaxed and his scowl faded. She may have been the one to fight Videl, the one to have brought her here, but she hadn't fought him with the others. She hadn't played a direct role in Videl's death. And he could hear in her voice, and see in her green eyes, that she was telling him the truth.

"I'm sure there were other ways..." he began.

Paine shook her head. "Maybe where you're from." she said. "But around here the only thing that anyone respects is power. Why do you think the Supreme Mazoku sided with Quietus instead of Dabura?"

"Not all of them did. Nefaria stayed with him."

The Demon nodded slowly. "Yeah, she did." she said, her voice thoughtful. Suddenly there was a loud crack and crash as one of the still standing walls of the palace shattered and collapsed, followed by the six floors above it that it had been supporting. The collapse brought Paine's attention back to the quickly deteriorating state of the planet, and brought it to Gohan's attention for the first time.

"What the...?" he said, looking around. A massive canyon was snaking its way along the ground only a few dozen feet away. It had been the cause of the wall's collapse. As it continued to grow more of the palace buckled and disappeared within. "Is this... are dad and Vegeta's powers that high?"

"What?" Paine wondered, blinking, turning her gaze back to him again. "You mean, you don't...?"

"Huh? Don't what?"

"This isn't from them." she said. "It's from you."

"Me?"

"That attack you unleashed." she explained. "The explosion set off a chain reaction in the planet's fault lines. You caused probably around five or six thousand different quakes to go off all at once, which triggered thousands more of them in quick succession. A continuing chain that still hasn't, and wont, let up. This world is ripping apart at the seams, and with Malchio dead there's nothing and no one to stop it."

"I... did this?" he said, shocked, as a massive spire of rock, forty-five feet across, suddenly erupted a good seventy or eighty feet into the air just a few feet behind him. "I barely even remember attacking..."

Paine stared at him for a moment, then turned and looked up at where the other two were still fighting. "Who are you people, anyway?" she asked after a moment, turning her gaze back to Gohan. "How did you all become so powerful? I've never heard of anyone in Makai being even remotely as powerful as you, and we're supposed to be the stronger Realm."

Gohan shrugged. "We're just people who've constantly had to push ourselves to become stronger just to survive." he said. "Fighting off one threat after another."

She shook her head in mild disbelief. He said it like it was no big deal, like it was just some typical every day thing that was perfectly reasonable and normal. It was clear he didn't understand just how... absurd his power was in the grand scheme of the universe. Though, if he was constantly dealing with threats anywhere near his level, if he'd had to contend with that Cell creature, she supposed it would seem a little more normal.

It still boggled her mind, though. As did the fact that these beings could apparently gain an incredible amount of power simply by changing the color of their eyes and hair. When she'd knocked the girl out her hair had turned black and her power had dived. The boy's hair was black now and his power far lower than anything she'd felt from him before. So strange.

Her eyes widened a second later as one of the powerful warriors, the one in orange, suddenly came surging down toward them.

XXX

About three hundred feet above and seven hundred feet south east of Gohan and Paine's location, Goku and Vegeta were continuing their battle. The latter had put Gohan's power spike out of mind a second faster than the other and lunged in, catching Goku off guard and landing a solid right hook to his jaw in the process. The Sai-jin Royal went to follow it up with a kick his side but his opponent managed to deflect it at the last second and counter with a elbow to his face that knocked him back and left him open to a follow-up open palmed blow to the chest.

The impact knocked Vegeta back but he thrust an arm out firing a blast of purple energy at the other Sai-jin. As Goku deflected it away he saw Vegeta charging toward him. He managed to slip around the Royal's first punch but the second slammed into his ribs and then an elbow pounded into his gut knocking the wind out of him. Reaching out Vegeta grasped the back of the other's head and thrust it down as he brought his knee up, smashing it into his face.

Though dazed from the blow there was a flash of gold as Goku released a burst of ki that knocked Vegeta back. As the Royal was being knocked away Goku backflipped where he floated, slamming both feet up into Vegeta's jaw sending him up into the air. An instant later there was another flash of gold as Goku charged up after him. The Sai-jin reached him quickly, thrusting both arms up at the same time and slammed into his stomach, fists first.

Vegeta's eyes and mouth snapped open wide in pain and shock as Goku drove him up another hundred feet before slipping out from under him, shooting up beyond him, and then aiming a kick down at this back. The Royal was already turning, however, and the kick missed it's mark as Vegeta grabbed his ankle, continued his turn, and then pitched him off into the distance. Scowling, he quickly sent a volley of ki blasts after him.

'Stop being so soft.' a voice echoed inside his mind. His own voice. He'd been hearing it faintly since he'd first awakened here. It was the voice that had told him how to gain more power, how to draw the dark energy around him into his body. Darkness Infusion, it had called it. It was abnormal, he knew, to have his own voice talking to him, independently of his thoughts, and presenting knowledge to him that he did not possess. Peculiar though it was, it was no more so than the rest of the day's events, and he'd taken this development in stride.

Now, however, the voice was louder, stronger than it had been before. It had been ever since he'd used Darkness Infusion to increase his power. Prior to that it had been more thought than a voice, but not anymore. Now it sounded like someone was talking inside of his mind. Though it was even stranger than the thought voice had been he took this new development in stride as well. Maybe it was the first signs of madness, maybe it was something else, either way it didn't matter. All that mattered was winning the fight.

Ahead of him Goku had recovered from being thrown and was dodging and deflect the last dozen or so of the hundred ki blasts Vegeta had sent after him. The Sai-jin Royal took this in stride as well and shot in toward him. He reached his opponent just as Goku was deflecting the last ki blast. His left fist shot out and caught him squarely on his right temple and he followed it up with a spinning kick to the opposite side of his head.

As Goku drifted to the side, slightly dazed by the dual blows to the head, Vegeta slammed both palms into his chest and then unleashed a point blank ki blast that sent him surging backward. Smirking to himself, Vegeta prepared to pursue his opponent but was brought to a sudden halt as a large boulder suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, shot up into the air in front of him, temporarily blocking his way before proceeding off into Limbo.

At first he thought that, somehow, his opponent had caused it, but a quick look around proved otherwise. The entire planet was ripping apart. Massive canyons were forming, new mountains were sprouting all around, and entire chunks were breaking off and spinning away from the whole. The chaos around him felt a fighting place for this battle, and seemed almost an outward manifestation of his fragmented thoughts.

'Forget about the damn planet!' the inner voice growled. 'Focus on killing Kakkarotto!'

/I'm not trying to kill him./ Vegeta thought to the voice that was and was not him as he shot after the Sai-jin in question. During his moment of distraction surveying the planet Goku had recovered from the last series of attacks and was waiting for him. /I only need to defeat him, killing him is unnecessary./

'Unnecessary? Unnecessary!?' the voice cried as Vegeta reached his opponent and resumed the battle. Goku slipped around the punch that had been aimed for his head and countered with one of his own, but Vegeta blocked it and shot a knee at his stomach. Goku managed to deflect it while simultaneously smashing his elbow into Vegeta's chest. 'After everything he's done? You need to kill him!'

/You don't tell me what to do./ he snapped back at the voice as he recovered from the blow to his chest. His left arm snapped out and he released a ball of purple ki but Goku swatted it away and charged in, only to find that his target was merely an after image. He'd just come to a stop, his arm half way through Vegeta's fading head, when a loud crack sounded as the Sai-jin King kicked him in the back.

'No, you never listen to me.' the voice said in irritation. 'Why do you think you're in this position in the first place? If you paid more attention to me this wouldn't have happened! YOU would have been the first to become a Super Sai-jin. YOU would have defeated Frieza. YOU would have been the one to stop the Androids. Not this low class nobody or his family.'

Goku spun around even as he was knocked forward and lashed out with his left leg, driving his foot into the royal's stomach. Continuing the twist he then smashed his other leg into the side of his head. The blow knocked him off balance and turned him over, upside down, and Goku thrust his left leg out again pounding his heel into Vegeta's face and knocking him back.

/Shut-up!/ Vegeta growled at the voice, his vision blurring slightly from the blows to his head. /I can't focus on the fight and your annoying prattle at the same time!/

'Fight? Fight? This isn't a fight, this is charade! A mockery of everything it means to be Sai-jin!'

/Shut-up!/ Vegeta mentally roared, thrusting both arms out and unleashing his anger at the voice by firing a massive stream of purple energy at his opponent, who'd been moving into to launching another kick. Goku's eyes widened, he was only a few feet away when the attack was unleashed. No time to block, no time to slip around it. He vanished just before the energy stream hit, appearing again a few feet behind Vegeta. The royal quickly spun and blocked the kick that had been aimed at his head and countered with one of his own.

'No, I will not be silenced. Not now, not ever again. You have ignored me long enough and look at where it's gotten you./

/I order you to shut the hell up, right now!/ Vegeta growled, his silvery eyes narrowing as he just barely avoided being clobbered again.

'Order me? YOU think you can order ME?'

/Of course I can./ he responded, catching first Goku's left hand, then his right, and then head butting him three times in quick succession, kneeing him in the stomach, and then smashing a doubled handed blow into his back driving him down toward what was left of the Grand Mazoku's planet. /I am the Sai-jin King and you're just a nagging voice in my head. You don't even exist./

'Sai-jin King my ass!' the voice yelled, clearly infuriated by notion. 'You are a weak, pathetic, worthless, cowardly excuse of a monkey trying to pass itself off as Sai-jin! You dishonor the true race and royalty just by existing, and even more with your sympathy, your lenience, your spinelessness! I am the Sai-jin King, you are just a child playing make believe, a usurper to the throne, and it is time you learnt your place!'

XXX

Goku tried to reverse his momentum, to fly back the way he'd come, but he was surging down toward the ground too quickly to stop and slammed into it, hard, a few seconds later. The impact rocked the weakened planet, shattering the surface and sending hundreds of tons of debris hurtling off into the sky. With the entire planet coming apart, the core destabilized, and the magnetic and gravitational fields out of whack the debris that had been knocked skyward did not fall back down but instead settled into various orbits above their heads.

"Dad!" Gohan cried, hurrying forward across the fifteen or so yards that separated him and his father's impact point.

"I'm alright." Goku said, climbing to his feet again. Gazing up at the sky he blinked in surprise at what he saw. Vegeta was not surging down to continue the fight. Instead, he was breathing hard, had one hand pressed against his forehead, and seemed to be grimacing in pain. /Maybe he's finally resisting this Dark Awakening thing./ he thought. Keeping Vegeta at the edge of his vision he turned his head and gazed toward his son.

"Did you find Videl?" he asked.

Gohan swallowed and closed his eyes. "Yes." he said. "But... I couldn't..."

"So, that was the trigger." Goku said in understanding, turning his entire focus back to Vegeta. "Gohan, I want you to go back to Shinkai."

"What? No! I can't just leave!"

"Your grandfather and I can handle things here. You're need back in Shinkai. Now that we've met the Mazoku, know just how strong they are, we can't leave the others unprotected, they wouldn't stand a chance if one of them attacked them. Mikomi can't be everywhere at once, and wouldn't be able to handle two or three of them at the same time by herself.

"Bardock's helping Dabura and I have to deal with Vegeta, so you need to go back. I felt how strong you are, you're the only one with the power to deal with the Mazoku one on one. Working with Mikomi you could take all three of them together if you had to."

"But... I can't use that power whenever I want."

"Yes, you can." Goku said. "You just have to believe in yourself. Just let go of the fear that's holding you back and you can do it, I know you can. I have faith in you, Gohan." Above them Vegeta's grimace was fading, his breathing returning to normal. "Go, now!" he cried, and then lunged back up toward Vegeta who had now fully recovered.

Gohan watched him go for a moment. /I wish I had your confidence./ he thought. It made him happy to know his father believed in him, but it also put a heavy weight on his heart, a fear that he couldn't live up to expectations. As his father reached Vegeta and the fight resumed again he turned to face Paine.

"Looks like I need to get back." he said. He may not have the faith in his ability that his father did but he knew that Goku was right, if any of the Mazoku attacked, especially if more than one of them attacked, they'd need more help than just Mikomi. Whether or not he'd actually be of any help remained to be seen, but he at least had to be there. "Only, I'm not sure how to find the way on my own. Could you show me?"

Paine stared at him for a moment, glanced up at the fight above, then back at him again. "You wouldn't be able to cross through to the other Realm your own, either." said Paine. "I'll take you through to Shinkai, but on one condition."

"What is it?"

Paine pursed her lips for a second before answering. "I want you to understand I'm no coward. I would gladly and willingly give my life for a cause I truly believed in..."

"But you don't believe in this one?" asked Gohan.

The Demon sighed. "No." she said. "Not this way, at least. I believe that Shinkai and its ways are weak, that we of Makai are the stronger and superior people, but I have existed for six thousand years, and as a Cleric Demon I recognize the necessity of order. The balance exists for a reason, good and evil, weak and strong, both are needed to create a whole.

"I may not think much of Shinkai or the Kais, but I realize that they are required in order to keep existence from falling into chaos, much like we Clerics keep Makai working. I believe in the principle of our rule over all but know that removing the Kais, even just imprisoning them, would lead only to harm to both Realms."

"I get it." said Gohan. "You're talking about this balance stuff that Dabura, Nefaria, Kibito, and Mikomi told us about. So, what's your condition?"

Paine hesitated for moment. As with admitting her weakness, the lack of respect she got and her desire to have it, even thinking of making this request was distasteful. Still, she felt she'd gone as far as she could on her current path. She had to stick with who she was or there was no point in existing, and she wasn't this.

"Asylum." she said at last. "A guarantee that you and your allies let me be."

"That we wont kill you, you mean." Gohan said, a little surprised. But then, he realized, something like that would probably be a reasonable concern in this Realm. "Don't worry, as long as you don't cause any problems we'll leave you alone. I can't make any promises about what will happen once this is all over, I don't really know how a Demon in Shinkai would work out or anything. Not really my field of knowledge."

Paine nodded. "That's fine. I have no intention of remaining after the war, win or lose, but my soul tells me to protect the order, not my pride." She held her right hand out, then. "Take my hand, I will transport us to the path to the Dead Zone."

"Thank-you." Gohan said, doing as asked, and an instant later the two of them vanished.

XXX

Vegeta pressed a hand against his head and shut his eyes tight against the sudden rush of pain that had flooded his mind. This was a new and, most assuredly, unwelcome development. A phantom voice talking to him was fine, he could live with that, but the same phantom voice wracking his body with pain and paralyzing him in the middle of a fight? That just would not do.

/Go away!/ he mentally cried, trying his best to try and force the pain to stop. His body, however, seemed incapable of reacting to his commands at the moment. /Are you trying to make me lose!?/

'No.' said the voice, echoing in his mind and, seemingly and impossibly, in the air around him. 'You are perfectly capable of losing all on your own. It seems to be something you excel at quite well.'

Vegeta growled, but didn't otherwise respond to the words. The pain was starting to fade and he lowered his arm and opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but clearing, and he cast his other senses about for some sign of his opponent, sure that he must have recovered by now and be nearly on him, but felt no trace of him anywhere.

His confusion grew as his vision cleared and revealed he was no long floating above the disintegrating world he'd been on just a moment ago. He was standing on the surface of a world that was not in the verge of obliteration, in the middle of a wide stone road. Above him was an orange sky that held, almost directly overhead, three suns.

One was massive, at least six or seven times the size of the sun on Earth or Planet Vegeta. The other two were small, less than a quarter the size of those of Earth or Vegeta. They were more like large stars than suns, but suns they clearly were for one of them floated in front of the red sun, near the bottom of it and nearly lost inside its glare.

The other small sun was just north of the equator of the red sun, off about a hand's width to the right of it. It seemed to shine more brightly than the other blue-white sun, but that was likely only illusion, its greater distance from the red sun preventing it from being as outshone as its brother. Though the sight seemed somehow familiar to him he knew he'd never been on a world with three suns like these before.

Looking around his more immediate surroundings he found that the road he was on lead back behind him to a large mountain range of red and black stone. To his left and right were fields covered in some sort of knee high yellow grass, some red and blue bushes, and what looked like four foot tall yellow palm trees. Vegetation unlike any he'd seen before.

Ahead of him, about forty yards away, was a massive set of metal doors standing at least two hundred feet tall. They were set in a metal wall at least twice that height that stretched on for miles to his left and right. The metal of the wall was dull and rusted, but the door shined in the redish-orange light.

The metal was so polished it was like the glass of a mirror, reflecting back the world around him. And himself. He knew that the magic used on him by the Grand Mazoku, as well as the Darkness Infusion technique he himself had used, had altered his appearance, but looking at his reflection now he saw himself as he normally was. And instead of the sleeveless blue body suit he'd been wearing he had on a black body suit with long sleeves and pants, and his red and white royal armor with the flowing cape and his family crest on the left brest plate.

"What is this?" he wondered. "Where the hell am I?"

"Home." said the voice, and this time it was entirely outside of his mind, seemingly emmanating from the air around him. "In a manner of speaking, at least." The air in front of him shimmered, about halfway between where he stood and the large metal doors directly in front of his reflection, and a form emerged from that distortion. The figure looked like him, and yet it did not.

The apparition was the same height and build as him, had the same general facial features, but his skin tone was several shades darker. Like he'd spent years living out under the sun, or suns given their present location. The man's eyes, also, were different. Even from twenty yards away Vegeta could make out his brilliant blue eyes. Directly above the eyes, his eyebrows lacked any hair and the ridges seemed to jut out an inch or two more than normal.

Though, most striking of all, was the wild mane of blood red hair. It didn't just stick straight up, as his own did, but there was more of it along the sides, spilling down over the man's shoulders, and in the back reaching about half way down the man's back. The extra hair was just as unrully as the rest, sticking out every which way.

His clothing was simple, and sparse. No shirt, a pair of baggy white pants with a red wasit band, and black shoes. For added decoration he had on a necklace made of the large, sharp teeth of some animal, each about the size of his thumb, and gold bands around his wrists and biceps. The gold bands seemed to have something engraved on them, though from where he was Vegeta could make out no details.

"This is where you are from." the figure continued. "Or rather, where I am from. But as we are, unfortunately, the same, I a part of you and you, well, so much less than I but sharing my blood and soul all the same, this is your true home as well. Have you really fallen so far you do not even recognize it?"

"Do I look like I care?" Vegeta asked, scowling. "I don't know how you brought me here, but send me back right now! I have a fight to finish."

The figure shook his head. "Don't you worry about that fight." he said. "It's still going on, you're still fighting it. I merely... split part of you off, so that we could have our own little... chat."

"I'm not interested in anything a delusion has to say."

"Deluded thought you are, I am no delusion. I am power. I am truth. I am the you that once was, the true and rightful Sai-jin King. And I intend to reclaim what belongs to me."


	66. Shinkai's Victory

A/N: Sorry for the delays. Real Life is, as usual, interfering. Especially now that I am actually employed. Having a real day job limits one's free time, and my gaming a movie watching tend to take precedence over writing after work, as they're more relaxing for me (and don't require me to be as awake to do as writing does). Also, I'm cutting the Doom and Gloom battles short. There was originally going to be more with them, but the truly important points of the fights - their natures, that Quietus was willing to make extra Mazoku in Shinkai despite the fact it'd screw with the balance, and giving Nova another chance to show her stuff (and her almost-sacrifice to save the Sai-jin kid and his mother) - have already been covered. So, they're being cut off here and I'm moving on in an effort to get this story going again. There's still quite a ways to go before it's over...

Chapter Sixty-six - Shinkai's Victory

"Nice timing, Piccolo."

The Namek grunted. "Get the two of them and get off the street." he said. "I'll take it from here."

"I'm not sure... you can." Nova said, turning her gaze from Piccolo to the billowing dust cloud of Gloom's impact point. "She has a... strange ability. I don't know... much about Namekian biology but... I doubt you can resist it."

Piccolo's eyes narrowed and he turned his head a little to glance at the Changeling Queen over his shoulder. "What sort of ability?" he asked.

"Some sort of... consciousness or thought suppression." answered the Changeling. Talking hurt, badly. She'd not been in this much pain in over a century. "Makes you lose awareness. I can resist because... I have two minds."

Piccolo smirked a little as Gloom emerged from the fading dust plume. "Then I shouldn't have a problem." he said, turning his gaze from the Changeling to his opponent. Nova was going to ask him what he meant but before she could he suddenly shot in at Gloom. The Demon started to react but wasn't fast enough and Piccolo slammed his knee into her stomach, then smashed an elbow into the back of her head driving her down toward the ground.

Just before Gloom hit Nova felt the odd sensation again, the one that told her the Demon was using her strange power. She down shifted control of her body and thoughts to her lower mind and watched as Gloom came to a stop and then surged back up into the sky at the Namek. They were both moving far too fast for her to see properly, but she saw enough. Just as Gloom reached him Piccolo slipped to the side around her attack and then kicked her in the side of the head.

/He... really can resist./ she thought, surprised. /But how?/

/That was interesting./ Piccolo thought as he watched Gloom slam into a nearby building. He'd felt some sort of odd sensation, a kind of light headed feeling, followed by a strange feeling of unreality. Like the world around him was simply a dream, and not even his but someone else's dream that he was merely observing. In that moment he'd lacked any feeling of self, any kind of connection between mind, body, and the world around him. And then he'd heard them.

He hadn't been entirely sure he was right about the Demon's power not being a problem, but he'd had a feeling he might be. Still, he hadn't expected what had happened. His mind had settled quite a bit in the last seven years but he could still feel them in there. Kami, Nail, and even traces of the personality that had once been Zildar. He'd thought that if he could feel them separate from himself then, perhaps, they actually were separate from his own thoughts. He'd been right. When Gloom had suppressed his mind the others hadn't been affected. While he'd been left basically an empty, unthinking, shell they had continued to function.

And they had given him directions during that few seconds, talking to his mind, and his body had responded to their commands just as it responded to his own thoughts. His memory of what had happened, of her charge and his counter, was vague, hazy. Like the tatters of a half forgotten dream. But it didn't matter if he could completely remember the exchanges or not. All that mattered was that he could function even when she used her power.

"Damn you!" Gloom yelled, erupting from the side of the building. "You shouldn't have been able to think, let alone move!"

Piccolo smirked, exposing a fang. "I couldn't." he said. "But fortunately for me, and unfortunately for you, I'm not the only one in here."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"It means you can't beat me." Piccolo replied, charging in at her again.

"Darkness Fissure!" the Demon cried, slicing her arm down through the air and sending a thin blade of black and purple energy surging toward Piccolo. The beam was slightly off center, aiming more toward his left shoulder than his head, and so the Namek didn't bother to dodge. He simply tilted his head to the side to make sure it was clear of the beam and flew right through it. He winced at the burning pain as the blade bit into shoulder and sliced clean through, severing his left arm, but neither the attack nor the pain slowed him.

Gloom smirked when she saw the attack make contact, but the smirk faded into shock as the green man simply ignored the loss of his arm and continued toward her. Her shock froze her in place and when he reached her a moment later, pulling to a sudden stop with the palm of his remaining hand only inches from her face, her shock turned to fear. She'd just started to back away when the stream of golden energy erupted from his palm and engulfed her head and torso. The wave lasted only a moment, and when it faded all that remained of Gloom was her legs, which fell toward the ground.

Piccolo left out a long breath as a determined look came over his face. He cried out a moment later as a new arm burst out of his shoulder, fully formed. He cast his senses around for any other powers in the area but picked up nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently any remaining enemies in the city had chosen to stay clear of this particular battle. Turning around he flew back over to where the others were.

"You need to get to a Regen Tank." he said, glancing toward Nova. The Changeling Royal had reverted to her normal form and was sitting on the ground, leaning back against a building for support. "I can feel your elites, the ones I'd had with me, approaching the city. The four of us will handle evacuations for now."

"Pug's still... out there." said Nova.

"I'll get him." Tien said, floating into the air, and then flying off.

"I don't think Nova should move on her own." Hotaru said. She was currently kneeling beside the downed Changeling, examining her. "She's in pretty bad shape. Could you carry her back, Piccolo? I'm not in any shape to fly and carry someone at the same time."

"Sure."

XXX

Otherworld, H.F.I.L.

The newly transformed Doom lunged upward, purple and red energy trailing behind him. There was a resounding crack a moment later as Doom's fast slammed into Kibito's arm. The future Kai cringed as pain lanced through his arm before going numb a second later. It seemed that even though the Mazoku was still weaker than him its strange ability now gave it a decided edge in strength. The blocked punch had hurt far more than it should have. As the two began to exchange blows Pikkon scowled, no longer able to accurately follow Doom's movements.

The newly created Mazoku's power had grown too much for him to continued with, even while using a Double Burst. He considered trying a Triple Burst, but discarded the idea again. He wouldn't be able to keep it up long enough to matter, the increase would only barely put him over Doom's power. It wouldn't be enough, not against his strange power. Clenching his hands into fists he let the Hyper Striker fade and then joined Olibu, Mikomi, and Zenryou while Kibito continued to battle the Mazoku.

"This is not going well." Zenryou mused, watching the fight. Kibito still had the superior speed, but the gap was much smaller now. He couldn't dodge as many of Doom's attack as before. Those that the future Kai blocked still did damage, and those that got through did even more. What's more, it seemed like the Mazoku's exoskeleton was enhancing his ability to resist Kibito's attacks. The blows that the future Kai landed were shrugged off quickly and easily.

"There has to be some way to overcome its abilities." said Olibu. He was following the fight with his senses only, his eyes could pick up none of the movements of the two fighters.

Mikomi shook her head. "I'm not sure how." she said. "It's immune to Kai power, and partially so to the dead and the half mortal, and there is no way available to us to change what we are."

"Kai power..." Pikkon muttered, furrowing his brow in thought.

"What is it, Pikkon?" asked Zenryou.

"I'm not sure." the green man replied just as Doom slammed both knees into Kibito's back, driving the man down into the ground two hundred feet below where they'd been fighting. "What the Supreme Kai said... it made me think of something the West Kai once said to me, back when I first arrived on his world. Even though its been eight thousand years, it left a lasting impression on me and I can still remember it."

Kibito pulled himself out of the ground and turned to meet Doom, who had charged down after him. He ducked under the Mazoku's kick and fired off an uppercut for his jaw, but Doom slipped around it and slammed his elbow into the side of his head.

"I was considerably stronger than him, even then, but I could not beat him in any of our spars." continued Pikkon. "His Svarus technique overpowered me every time. He told me that my power and technique were too chaotic, too unfocused, to stand up against Kai power, which was pure and focused. My people were warriors and, though we lived by a powerful code of honor, we left little room for goodness in us, while Kais are nothing but. That was why I would lose."

Mikomi pursed her lips in thought as she looked toward the on going battle between Kibito and Doom. The future Kai was clearly wearing down, though the Mazoku was showing no signs of fatigue himself. Kibito was dodging fewer attacks, successfully blocking even less, and taking longer to recover from the blows that did land. He also seemed unable, now, to land any attacks of his own.

"Could that be it?" she wondered, thinking aloud. "We Kais are the strongest concentration of good in Shinkai, the purest beings. We have striven hard since the beginning to be and remain so, to embody the nature of the Realm. As such, the vast majority of our power is bound in pure energy. Could it be that this one's ability is a resistance, and an increased amount of harm, to purity?"

"Hmm, conceivable." said Zenryou, rubbing his chin. "As a warrior of Otherworld Pikkon would have a decent concentration of pure energy within him as well. Perhaps enough to have caused the minor troubles he'd been having in his battle."

"So how do we overcome that?" asked Olibu. "Find someone who isn't pure?"

"I doubt any such person would help us." said Mikomi. "They would be occupants of the H.F.I.L. or of Hell, and not disposed to aid we Kais. It seems most of them already sided with Quietus as it is." She sighed. "Though we have likely determined the issue it still gives us no recourse in this battle. The only ones who could have a chance against him are the Mortals who have traveled to Hell and Makai. All we can do is wait for one of them to return."

"No, there is one other." Zenryou said, head snapping up. "I had completely forgotten about him, so befuddled by this Mazoku's ability."

"Who do you mean?" asked Mikomi.

"The one you escorted to Heaven to guard it." replied the Grand Kai. "Tatamo."

Mikomi blinked a couple of times and then smiled. "Yes, of course! I sensed his power back in the Mortal Plane, he is second only to Goku and Bardock. His power should be enough to challenge Doom."

Zenryou nodded. "And being Sai-jin, even as a Guardian, I doubt we have to worry too much about his level of purity."

"I will go and retrieve him at once." Mikomi said, right before vanishing. While they waited on Mikomi's return the battle between Doom and Kibito continued. Doom dodged around a punch from Kibito, grabbed his arm, and then pitched him down toward the ground before firing a volley of energy blasts after him. The future Kai managed to recover before hitting the ground, but not fast enough to block the incoming attacks, and the barrage hit driving him down. The attack was just letting up when Mikomi returned, Tatamo at her side.

"Interesting." Tatamo said, gazing up at Doom. "Though disappointing. No one's attacked Heaven so I was hoping for a good fight from this, but this wont take long at all."

"It may take longer than you think." said Zenryou, Kibito climbing to his feet. "He's resistant to..."

"The Supreme Kai told me." Tatamo said, flashing gold. The sudden power spike caught the attentions of both Kibito and Doom. "But it wont be an issue." He floated up into the air, eyes locked on Doom.

"More annoying pests." the Mazoku grumbled. "For a Mortal your power is impressive but you still can't take me."

Tatamo smirked. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.

Doom grinned. "Of course. You are an ally of the Kais. You don't stand a chance."

"Let's test that theory, shall we?" With that Tatamo lunged at Doom in a flash of gold. He reached him in less than a second and aimed a punch for the Mazoku's head. Doom's arm came up quickly and blocked the blow, then he counted with a kick but Tatamo slipped around it. Twisting around behind the Mazoku the Sai-jin smashed his knee into his back, and then slammed his elbow down into his head, driving him down into the ground below.

"Seems the Supreme Kai wasn't kidding about his ability." Tatamo muttered, scowling slightly. Under normal circumstances, against a normal opponent of Doom's level, those two blows would have killed him. Doom, however, was still very much alive inside the debris cloud his impact had created. He'd never exactly considered himself good, even after all that had happened ten thousand years ago with Yadish, and all that had happened since and because of that.

Even after taking the post of Planet Vegeta's Guardian, a position that had been empty for thousands of years, even prior to his birth, he'd never considered himself among the 'good,' the ones who made it to the Grand Kai's world or to Heaven. As a Super Sai-jin, he felt he fit that mold even less. And yet, here he was, facing an opponent resistant to purity and finding his attacks being less effective than they should be.

He considered the idea it was because of his position, the fact that he was a Guardian, that was the source of the issue. He couldn't quite accept that, though. The Kai's issues were not because they were Kais but because they were pure. Being a Guardian involved little more than a title and being granted some level of magical ability. No real fundamental change, nothing that would make someone more pure than they had been before.

/Apparently Azura's rubbed off on me more than I'd thought over the last ten thousand years./ he mused. /So if I can't just beat him into submission, how do I end this? I'm not interested in a prolonged battle against someone who isn't even a real challenge./ He considered using the same technique he'd used on Mijima during the tournament, but wasn't sure it would be all that effective here. His opponent this time wasn't exactly normal.

As Doom came charging up at him he suddenly grinned, as he realized exactly what attack to use. It had been almost five thousand years since he'd developed this move, and he'd never actually had the chance to use it on anyone before. This would be interesting. Darting down toward the Mazoku he smashed a foot into his face, driving him back toward the ground. The Sai-jin dropped straight down at his full speed, pulled to a stop just before touching the ground, then shot forward and slammed an out stretched foot into Doom's chest just before the Mazoku hit the ground.

The kick to the chest sent Doom surging away along the surface and Tatamo landed, planting his feet firmly on the ground. Bringing his right arm up in front of his face he cupped his hand and focused and began gathering energy into his palm. A moment little a small, pea-sized, pinpoint of purple light had formed, growing brighter and brighter as he continued to focus, though not getting any larger.

Doom had pulled to a stop and, growling in frustration, launched back in at him. But Tatamo was ready. Raising his eyes from his attack his smirk grew and he pulled his arm back. "Galick Bomb!" he cried, pitching the tiny ball of energy toward the charging Mazoku. Doom saw it coming and scowled, but didn't think much of it. After all, it was puny. Still, he swerved to go around it, dodging to the left of the tiny energy ball.

He was just passing it when it suddenly and savagely exploded, blasting out a crater over a hundred yards in width. The edge of the blast radius coming within a few feet of Tatamo's position, the massive shockwave driving the Sai-jin back a dozen feet despite how firmly he'd planted himself in the ground. Shielding his eyes he continued to grin. He'd never actually gotten to see that attack in action before, and it worked even better than he'd hoped. Doom's ki signal had vanished almost as soon as the attack had exploded.

As the energy dome shank down and the attack faded Tatamo lowered his arms and reverted back to base. "And that's the end of him." he said with a nod.

"Impressive." said Mikomi, floating over to his position and gazing down at the crater. "For all the larger that attack was you had a lot of energy in it."

"That's the key to making it work." said Tatamo. "It took me a long time to figure out how to compress the energy down that small to make it work. Looks like it was time well spent."

Mikomi nodded. "Yes. Well, it would seem matters here have been dealt with. I'll return you to guarding Heaven."


End file.
